Support, additional to the Basic Support, for the creation and/or maintenance of ecological focus areas, is granted to farmers through the action «P1-31.2 - Extension of the implementation of ecological focus areas», as provided for in the revised National Strategic Plan of our country.
More specifically:
A. Aid of €2,5 per hectare is granted for the creation and/or maintenance of ecological focus areas consisting of land under fallow and/or nitrogen-fixing crops and/or existing elements of the rural landscape on at least 10% of the arable area of the holding. In the case of host crop cultivation, 2 € per hectare are added to the above aid and the total amount of aid is 4,5 € per hectare. The aid is granted under point (a) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 7 as an additional payment to the basic income support.
B. Aid of 2.5 € per hectare is granted for the creation of new landscape elements (trees and shrubs). From the second year onwards, an aid of €5 per hectare is granted for the maintenance of trees and shrubs. The aid is granted under point (a) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 7 as an additional payment to the basic income support.
Description
A. On farms that have arable land, 10% of the farm's arable land shall be converted to an ecological focus area if the ecological focus area consists of land under fallow and/or nitrogen-fixing crops without the use of plant protection products and/or zones of annual flowering host plants of pollinator and/or beneficial plants without the application of nutrients and plant protection products and/or existing elements of the agricultural landscape.
On farms that create an ecological focus area involving nitrogen fixing crops (in any case without the use of pesticides), 10% should be fixed, of which at least 60% should be land under fallow and/or unproductive landscape elements.
In the areas left as ecological focus zones, no synthetic fertilizers or pesticides are applied, thus protecting water resources from pollution and reducing gas emissions caused by the use of fertilizers and thus improving air quality.
On all the above holdings, additional aid shall be granted for the sowing and/or maintenance of plants of pollinator and/or beneficial organism hosts on the edges of the parcels in an area equal to 1% of the arable farm. The area with host plants shall be counted towards the 10% of the ecological focus area. This practice, in addition to enhancing the presence of pollinators by providing host plants for them, also reduces the need for pesticide use by assisting the presence of beneficial plants and increases carbon sequestration.
Areas with nitrogen-fixing capacity (legumes) include plants of the following genera and species:
1. Medicago sativa (Alfalfa)
2. Phaseolus spp. (Beans
3. Vigna spp. (Black-eyed peas etc.)
4. Lotus corniculatus (Lotus) v. Cicer spp.
5. Trifolium spp. (Clover) vii. Vicia faba (Edible beans)
6. Lens culinaris (Lentils) ix. Lupinus spp.
7. Pisum spp. (Peas)
8. Vicia spp. (Vicus etc.) grown without plant protection products.
The landscape elements are those listed in GAEC 8.
In cases of proximity to water bodies and implementation of GAEC 4, the intervention consists in the enrichment of the mandatory 3-meter zones by planting host plants of pollinators and/or beneficial plants in the 3-meter zones, while complying with the obligation not to apply nutrients and pesticides.
B. The creation of new landscape features as an ecological focus area on the 10% of the farm is encouraged, which include tree rows, tree stands, individual trees and shrub rows.
Eligible are the forest and cultivated trees of the Greek flora, with a planting density of 50 to 100 trees per hectare, of which only 10 trees per hectare can be cultivated species, but their cultivation is not aimed at production and to which the application of chemical pesticides is not allowed.
The shrubs of the hedgerows are installed either on the tree lines or on the edges of the plots.
by Christos Athanasiadis
