EU Commissioner announces over EUR 32 bln for Polish agriculture
The EU Commissioner for Agriculture has said during a visit to Poland that the country will receive about PLN 150 billion (EUR 32.6 billion) in EU funding for farms in the years 2021-2027.
Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski also hailed the importance of small farms, not just for Poland but globally.
According to Wojciechowski, small farms with an area of up to 2 hectares account for 12 percent of global agricultural land and produce 35 percent of food for the entire world.
"If small farms were liquidated, and their total area were incorporated into large farms, global food production would shrink by these 35 percent," Wojciechowski said in the village of Gorno, southern Poland, on Sunday.
Wojciechowski went on to say that, in the years 2021-2027, Poland would receive around PLN 150 billion (EUR 32.6 billion) for agriculture, including 10 percent for small and medium-size farms.
"If we take into account that there are 14.5 million hectares of agricultural land in Poland, this means over PLN 10,000 (EUR 2,174) for every statistical hectare of Polish agricultural land and over PLN 120,000 (EUR 26,200) for every statistical Polish farm," he said.
Having repeated that the liquidation of farms had to be stopped, Wojciechowski said that a total of 4 million had already been liquidated in the EU. "There were 14 million farms, and now there are 10 million," he said.
He also said that Poland had been the only EU country to have decided to introduce subsidies for fertilisers in order to compensate farmers for sharp price rises.
"Prices of fertilisers have gone up in all 27 EU states. And Poland is the only country to have offered assistance to farmers to alleviate the impact of their price growth," he said.
In mid-April, the EC approved the Polish subsidy programme valued at PLN 3.9 billion (EUR 847 million) for the agricultural sector. The beneficiaries will be able to receive grants to the tune of PLN 500 (EUR 108.6) per hectare of arable land, and PLN 250 (EUR 54.3) per hectare of grassland or pasture. The upper limit of the aid claimed will be for an area of 50 hectares. (PAP)
at/ej
