The Support for Agriculture in Regions with Unfavorable Natural Conditions Within the CAP of EC
R. POPOV
Abstract: The support of the agricultural activity in the so called less favored areas is part of the second pillar of the CAP of EC. During 2005 are introduced considerable changes in the definition of the so called intermediate regions with unfavorable conditions. In the article is discussed the historical development of the support organization for agriculture in the LFA, the necessity of adoption of new criteria for the range of the areas with natural limitations and on this base ¦ drawn out proposals concerning the criteria unification for eligibility and the formula for payment’s calculation. The main conclusions of the Bulgarian position, concerning the future organization of payments in areas with natural limitations for agricultural activity consists of several points:
The offered system of eight biophysical criteria for determining the minimal threshold for lands of natural limitations classifying seems applicable.
The aids calculation should be based on expenditures at base technologies for the corresponding referent region and a region to be supported with an extensive utilized technology. This would represent one more guarantee that these payments will fulfill the aim of the measure.
The utilization of the index standard gross margin as a criteria for support eligibility of a determined farm has several advantages:
It fully corresponds to the objective of the support for agriculture in the regions with natural limitations ¦“areas... within which the achievement of extensive agricultural activities is important for the land management”, Because the lower production potential of the lands in these areas naturally leads to a higher share of this index in the gross agricultural output;
The index of the standard gross margin could be calculated by crops or products, and in such a way be able to exclude from the support high profit productions;
The standard gross margin provides a reliable bases and a relatively simple calculation method, which is a way to differentiate the aids for the different farms according the specific local natural limitations.
The schemes for support of the agricultural farms in the LFA partially improve the insufficiencies caused by the SAP. The size of the last depends on the volume of production, i.e. it prejudices the extensive types of production.
The land areas in Bulgaria where the farms can be supported due to natural limitations are determined on the base of biophysical indexes, featuring the soil fertility and climate. Due to the lack of relevant information are not applied economic indexes for the farms and the demographic processes. For this reason the actually determined areas for support at a high grade will get into the support range, applying the proposed new criteria. Bulgaria wants to minimize the risk for possible range changes, the so called intermediate or other type of LFA, during the future revision in 2010, taking into consideration the circumstance that this measure was initially introduced for the country during 2007.
The offered system of eight biophysical criteria for determining the minimal threshold for lands of natural limitations classifying seems applicable.
The aids calculation should be based on expenditures at base technologies for the corresponding referent region and a region to be supported with an extensive utilized technology. This would represent one more guarantee that these payments will fulfill the aim of the measure.
The utilization of the index standard gross margin as a criteria for support eligibility of a determined farm has several advantages:
It fully corresponds to the objective of the support for agriculture in the regions with natural limitations ¦“areas... within which the achievement of extensive agricultural activities is important for the land management”, Because the lower production potential of the lands in these areas naturally leads to a higher share of this index in the gross agricultural output;
The index of the standard gross margin could be calculated by crops or products, and in such a way be able to exclude from the support high profit productions;
The standard gross margin provides a reliable bases and a relatively simple calculation method, which is a way to differentiate the aids for the different farms according the specific local natural limitations.
The schemes for support of the agricultural farms in the LFA partially improve the insufficiencies caused by the SAP. The size of the last depends on the volume of production, i.e. it prejudices the extensive types of production.
The land areas in Bulgaria where the farms can be supported due to natural limitations are determined on the base of biophysical indexes, featuring the soil fertility and climate. Due to the lack of relevant information are not applied economic indexes for the farms and the demographic processes. For this reason the actually determined areas for support at a high grade will get into the support range, applying the proposed new criteria. Bulgaria wants to minimize the risk for possible range changes, the so called intermediate or other type of LFA, during the future revision in 2010, taking into consideration the circumstance that this measure was initially introduced for the country during 2007.
Keywords: agriculture; CAP; EC; support; unfavorable natural conditions
Date published: 2024-09-03
Download full text