Background information

The measure aims to support farmers and agricultural SMEs in selected sectors of primary production that have been particularly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and pays particular emphasis on professional farmers. It has been decided by the Cabinet in May 2021 and is coordinated by the Cyprus Agricultural Payments Organisation (CAPO) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment. The implementation of the measure required the amendment of the Rural Development Programme (2014 -2020) of the National Strategy for Sustainable Development.

Content of measure

The two eligible primary production sectors provided by the measure are : potato crops and deciduous tree crops in areas with altitude below 400 meters.

For the potato corps, eligible beneficiaries of the measure are considered:

• professional farmers, and
• natural or legal persons who have applied for the Single Area Payment Scheme of CAPO for the year 2020 and the application is classified as submitted for the purposes of the Single Area Payment Scheme by CAPO and has submitted a crop declaration with planting dates from 01 November 2019 to 31 March 2020, in accordance with the 2019 Law on Risk Management in Agricultural Production and Related Matters (L. 103(Ι)/2019).

For the deciduous tree crops, eligible beneficiaries are:

• professional farmers, and
• natural or legal persons who have applied for the Single Area Payment Scheme of CAPO for the year 2020 and the application is classified as submitted for the purposes of the Singe Area Payment Scheme by CAPO.

The subsidy is calculated per hectare of eligible land of the beneficiary and the maximum subsidy is €7,000.

The total available budget of the measure is €1.8 million. The distribution of the budget among the two sectors is:

• €1.4 million for potato corps, and
• €400,000 for deciduous tree crops.

Use of measure

The number of beneficiaries of the measure is currently unavailable as the deadline for the application is running.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Solo-self-employed Sector specific set of companies SMEs One person or microenterprises	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government	European Funds National funds National Recovery and Resilience Facility

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	No involvement	Informed
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: Sectoral or branch level

Involvement

The Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment and Cyprus Agriculture Payments Organisation hold meetings with the Agricultural Organisations regularly. Agricultural organisations express opinions, inform the Minister about the current state of affairs and explicate the needs of farmers or those that are affected most by the pandemic. However, the level of involvement of these organisations in the designing of the particular scheme is not known.

Views and reactions

The particular measure as well as all measures addressing the needs of farmers or particular groups of farmers with extra or specific needs are always welcomed by agricultural social partners and farmers themselves. Particular reactions on the measure have not been identified.

Sectors and occupations

Sources

• 21 May 2021: Έκτακτη προσωρινή στήριξη στους γεωργούς και ΜΜΕ (www.capo.gov.cy)