The Denitrification bonus is last announced, it got a Government Gazette

The institutional framework of the call of Measure 10.1.4 “Reduction of water pollution from agricultural activity” was issued, also known as Denitrification, with the announcement expected in the coming days and the commitments to be of two years duration.

This is the last opportunity to join the programme (budget of EUR 150 million), as the next programming period (2023-2027) is abolished according to the CAP strategic plan submitted to the EU. According to the institutional framework, there are four specific commitments (set-aside, crop rotation, green manure in trees and buffer strips around water).

Analytically:

Eligibility criteria for beneficiaries

The criteria for the eligibility of beneficiaries must be met both when the application for support is submitted and throughout the duration of the commitment.

1. Farmers, natural or legal persons or groups thereof, who are holders of an agricultural area may be considered to be beneficiaries of the aid of the Action.

2. Beneficiaries may not be considered, even if they meet the conditions of para. 1 of this article, the following categories of candidates: a) Those who have joined the early retirement scheme or their spouses. b) Early retirement successors for whom a decision has been issued to exclude them from receiving any aid in the agricultural sector for ten (10) years. c) Those who have been excluded from an agri-environmental measure or action in the current or in a previous programming period, due to the submission of intentionally inaccurate data and one (1) calendar year has not elapsed since the calendar year of the finding of the infringement.

Criteria for the inclusion of a holding

The criteria for the inclusion of a holding in the Action are divided into: a) eligibility criteria, which must be met both during the submission of the application for support and throughout the duration of the commitment, and b) selection criteria.

A. Criteria for the eligibility of a holding

1. The parcels of the holding where the candidate applies for inclusion, in order to be included in the Action, must meet the following eligibility criteria:

a) Be declared as irrigated in the Single Application for Aid (ELA) of the interested party for the year specified in the call for Expression of Interest, which is the “reference year”. For Special Commitment C, the parcels to be included must be declared in the above ELA with an eligible arboreal cultivation of Table 7 of article 7 hereof.

b) Be located within the intervention area of the Action, as described in article 3 hereof. The eligibility of holdings at agricultural parcel level, in relation to the area of intervention, is reflected in the ELA of the person concerned for the reference year.

(c) For the ‘Olive’ crop group, the minimum planting density of the olive parcels shall be 80 olive trees per hectare (Ha), in order to ensure that it is a systematic olive grove.

(d) For specific commitment D, be adjacent to surface water (rivers, streams, lakes, canals, ditches and irrigation or drainage channels).

2. Agricultural parcels which:

a) are included in other Actions of Measures 10 “Agri-environment and climate measures” and 11 “Organic Farming” of the RDP 2014-2022.

(b) is co-ownership, within the meaning of the declaration of the parcel with a co-ownership rate of less than 100% in the CFC of the reference year;

(c) are included in the measure of afforestation of agricultural land;

d) in the year of application 2021, they are still included in Action 10.1.04 under No. 2175/139694/28.12.2017 call for Expression of Interest.

e) in the year of application 2021 they were included in another Action of Measure 10 “Agri-environment and climate measures” or Measure 11 “Organic Farming” of the RDP 2014-2022. 3. A beneficiary in other Actions of Measures 10 and 11 may submit an application for support under the Action hereof for different from the included parcels. By analogy, a beneficiary of Action 10.1.04 under a previous call may submit an application for support to a subsequent call for action, for different parcels.

Eligible actions

A. Set-aside (Commitment A)

As part of this commitment, beneficiaries undertake each year to set aside an agricultural area corresponding to at least 30% (≥30%) of the total area included in the commitment. This percentage may be increased annually up to 50% (≤50%) without changing the aid amount. The remaining set-aside area shall be cultivated with the eligible arable crops of the commitment.

Amplification:

Maize: 43,5 euros per acre in Macedonia-Thrace, 45,1 euro in Thessaly, 53,4 euro in Epirus, Ionian islands, Peloponnese, Western Greece and 50,2 in the rest

Sugar beet: 60 euros in Macedonia-Thrace, 50,2 in the rest of the regions

Cotton: 60 euros per acre in all regions

Vegetables: 60 euros per acre in all regions

B. Crop rotation (Commitment B)

As part of this commitment, beneficiaries undertake annually to apply crop rotation by dry cultivation, to at least 30% (≥30%) of the total area included in the commitment. The percentage may be increased annually to up to 90% (≤90%) without a change in the aid amount. The area remaining in the crop rotation shall be cultivated with the eligible arable crops.

Amplification:

Maize: 29.2 euros per acre in Macedonia-Thrace, 30.8 euros in Thessaly, 39 euros in Epirus, Ionian islands, Peloponnese, Western Greece and 35.8 euros in the rest

Sugar beet: 46,5 euros in Macedonia-Thrace, 35,8 in the rest of the regions

Cotton: 60 euros per acre in Macedonia-Thrace, Central Greece, Attica, Aegean Islands, Crete, 51.5 euros in Thessaly and 55.4 euros in the rest of the regions

Vegetables: 60 euros per acre in all regions

Sunflower: 31.7 euros per acre in Macedonia-Thrace, 31.6 euros in Thessaly, 32 euros in Epirus, Ionian islands, Peloponnese, Western Greece and 32.2 euros in the rest of the regions.

C. Green manure in arboreal crops (Commitment C)

In the context of this commitment, the beneficiaries undertake: (i) To apply green fertilisation by sowing ground cover plants on the subfloor of the trees, at the beginning of the cultivation work during the winter season, in an area corresponding to at least 20% (≥20%) of the agricultural area included in the commitment. Eligible as green manure plants are annual winter legumes and mixtures of winter legumes with cereals, as detailed in the call for Expression of Interest. The ground cover plants are not harvested and not grazed, but are cut during the flowering period and certainly before the seeding of the plants and either remain on the ground or are incorporated into it. The rate of 20% of green manure can be increased at the will of the beneficiary, without changing the aid amount.

Amplification:

Citrus fruits (Orange – Tangerine – Lemon tree): 27,2 euros per acre

Olive (Edible oil-producing and two-way): 45,2 euros per acre

Pyrinokarpa (Rodakinia – Nektarinia – Apricotia): 31,7 euros per acre

Apple trees (Milia – Achladia): 18,8 euros per acre

D. Buffer zone on parcels adjacent to surface water (Commitment D)

Within the framework of this commitment, the beneficiaries undertake to maintain a wading buffer zone at least five (5) meters wide, on average in the parcels included in the commitment that are adjacent to surface waters (rivers, streams, lakes, canals, ditches and irrigation or drainage channels). In the buffer stripping zone, it is forbidden to carry out any agricultural activity, which may alter the environmental character of the area (e.g. plowing, fertilization, use of plant protection products, irrigation, grazing, etc.) with the exception of the minimum activity of Pillar I, which consists of cutting and removing woody vegetation as well as cutting herbaceous vegetation so that it does not exceed the height of 50 cm (according to per. D of para. 6 of Article 40 of No. 104/7056/22.01.2015 ministerial decision (B’ 147), as in force. The remaining native vegetation in the buffer zone provides ground cover and creates favourable conditions for biodiversity.

Amplification:

The aid amount for commitment D is calculated from the following formula: Aid amount (€/Ha/year) = (area of a buffer zone 4 m wide/area included) X Typical Gross Profit (SGM). The loss of income is compensated for 4 out of 5 meters wide of the buffer zone, since in the context of cross-compliance it is forbidden to cultivate at a distance of less than one meter from the banks of streams and other bodies of water.

Source:www.agronews.gr