fertilizer support. Until when can farmers apply for the money?

The subsidy program for farmers is to mitigate, among other things, the effects of increases in fertilizer prices. Their prices have risen so dramatically that fertilizers are out of reach for some farmers. For example, a year ago in January, the price of a ton of ammonium nitrate was 1,000 PLN. PLN, and now it costs more than 4 thousand. zloty. Fertilizer prices have risen by up to 400%.

That’s why the government offered to support farmers. As part of this assistance, they will receive PLN 500 per hectare of arable land and PLN 250 per hectare of meadows and pastures.

However, the aid will be applied to fertilizers that farmers will purchase from September 1, 2021 to May 15 this year. The Department of Agriculture has now announced that there will be more time to apply for the subsidies.

– The application deadline will be extended to invoices for purchased fertilizers until May 15, but the purchase deadline will not be extended, because the program has been approved by the European Commission and any change will require re-approval of the European Commission – said Henryk Kowalczyk, Minister of Agriculture, at Statement for the PAP.

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The support was due to start only after obtaining approval from the European Commission, which gave the green light only in mid-April. Meanwhile, the first fertilization and sowing began at the end of February. Due to the lack of fertilizer support, many farmers withdrew from sowing or sowing a nominal amount. Farmers also warned that the state’s actions were overdue. Plus, according to them, it might happen Translate into poorer crops and higher food prices.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Agriculture, Henrik Kowalczyk, has informed that the legislative procedure on the relevant “fertilizer” regulation has not yet been completed. But in his opinion, “no objection to it.”

The Minister also stated that fertilizer support cannot be provided before direct support requests.

Data from the Ministry of Agriculture show that in Poland, on average, about 300-400 kg of compound fertilizers are planted per hectare. This is lower than the EU average, but the amount of fertilizer used depends on the type of crop. According to the ministry, it will not be known how much fertilizer has already been planted until after applications are submitted.

Minister Kowalczyk added that if it turns out that there are more applications than expected, a slight reduction in subsidies may occur.

The head of the Ministry of Agriculture is also optimistic – he believes that the price of fertilizers this year will not be equal to the yield. According to him, farmers have already bought fertilizers, and some of them still have supplies from last year.

Tell the minister that Since the end of April, when Russia stopped sending gas to Poland, the compound fertilizers in the bulk fertilizer distributor Grupa Azoty (Agrochem) have risen to the level of 3.5-3.9 thousand tons. Polish zloty per ton.

But according to Kowalczyk, Poland will have the gas for the coming weeks. This guarantees both local extraction and the ability to purchase gas within the European Union through the so-called connections and gas station in Wennojesi. The minister also hopes that a gas pipeline will be launched in the fall, allowing gas to be imported from Norway Via Baltic Tube.

The minister added that he asked the Ministry of State Assets to protect the food industry in the event of a possible interruption in gas supplies. – She paid a lot of attention to the dairy and meat processing industries, because these are sectors that will not only stop production, but also risk spoiling raw materials – he assesses.

According to the data of the Agricultural Restructuring and Modernization Agency, 525,000 zlotys were received this morning. Direct payments requests and 82 thousand. Fertilization applications.