Applications for organic farming support can be submitted soon

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The State Secretary for Agriculture and Rural Development of the Ministry of Agriculture announced that within the framework of the calls for support for organic farming announced by the Rural Development Program, approximately 5,500 farmers were able to submit payment applications annually, and beneficiaries were able to apply for support for almost 275 thousand hectares. In Hungary, in 2023, the size of the areas included in organic farming – together with the conversion areas – reached 320 thousand hectares.

Looking to the future, according to Zsolt Feldman, the recently announced call for proposals entitled “Support for Organic Farming” can provide significant assistance in moving forward

The call encourages the conversion and conversion of areas still under conventional cultivation to organic farming, and the maintenance of the farming method in areas already under organic cultivation in the form of a non-refundable flat-rate subsidy. He explained that the support program will last five years, starting on January 1, 2025, and ending on December 31, 2029. Beneficiaries must undertake to farm their supported areas – be they arable land, grassland, or plantation – in accordance with the requirements of organic farming during this period. The annual amount of the subsidy varies depending on the land use category, for example, in the case of an intensive fruit orchard under conversion, it is 1,801 euros/hectare, while in the case of grassland, it is 225 euros/hectare – the State Secretary added. In his presentation, he noted that in the numerous calls for proposals announced this year based on the CAP Strategic Plan – such as the calls for proposals supporting livestock and horticultural investments – organic farmers will gain a significant advantage. On the one hand, those concerned will receive a 10 percent increased support intensity compared to the basic support, and on the other hand, they will also gain significant additional points in the content evaluation system.

AM