The continuation of coupled apple support in the medium-term programme of the transitional period 2021-2022 and in the new CAP 2023-2027, says in a written reply the Mr Georgios Stylios, State Secretary for Rural Development, which he gave to the Member of Parliament of Larissa, Mr. Maximos Charakopoulos.
As the Deputy Minister notes, «for the period 2021-2022, the budget for the apple coupled aid amounts to approximately EUR 4 000 000 per year.
In the meantime, the link to apples remains because - according to the strategic planning report of the Ministry of Agriculture for the new CAP 2023-2027 - the high cost of production combined with the continued occurrence of the phenomenon of microcrop have resulted in the continuous and gradual compression of producers' income, with all the consequent negative consequences. In addition, the gradual change in climatic conditions, and in particular the increase in average temperatures, has resulted, on the one hand, in frequent damage to production due to weather phenomena such as hail, wind and burns on fruit surfaces from exposure to high temperatures in the summer and, on the other hand, in loss of production due to an outbreak of crop pests such as the Mediterranean fly.
Under the new CAP, beneficiaries of coupled support for apples are active farmers growing on eligible areas and subject to the following conditions:
- deliver at least 500 kg of product per hectare of cultivated area per year.
- Present an invoice for the sale or purchase of the product.
The aid target for each year of the period 2023-2027 is 86,850 hectares, which is the average of the eligible areas of 2018, 2019 and 2020. Also, for the period 2023-2027, the unit value of the previous programming period is maintained, i.e. EUR 47.2 per hectare.
The total budget of the aid for the whole period 2023-2027 is EUR 20.496.600.
