The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Rights Anton Refalo has announced that direct payments have been distributed to Maltese and Gozitan farmers and villagers, with an allocation reaching €14 million under various schemes of ‘ aid financed by European and national funds.
Minister Refalo also announced that the scheme for the purchase of fertilizers is being re-launched, with an allocation of almost €4 million. This scheme is intended to further mitigate some of the impact of the war in Ukraine on the prices of imported products. “As a Government we will continue to support farmers through direct payments given based on the eligible land they have, and which will serve as compensation for the increase in the prices of chemical and synthetic fertilizers,” Minister Refalo said.
He reiterated the Government’s commitment to continue helping this sector not only through European funds, but also through national funds, so that together with the farmers they continue to strengthen and ensure the continued sustainability of the Maltese agricultural sector and Gozti in the future.
“What we announced today reflects what we have achieved through the negotiations regarding the Strategic Plan of the Common Agricultural Policy, where direct payments to farmers and villagers have doubled,” concluded Minister Refalo.
The General Director of ARPA, Louisa Formosa, explained that the aid schemes that were given direct payments included Basic Income Support for Sustainability; Payment for Farmers with Small Agricultural Holdings; Complementary Income Support for Young Farmers; the Eco-schemes; Coupled Income Support covering the dairy, beef, sheep and tomato processing sectors; Agro-Environmental-Climatic Commitments; Organic Farming; and the payment for areas with natural restrictions.
For more information call ARPA on 22926148 or send an email to arpa.mafa@gov.mt. More details about the scheme can be accessed from the detailed guidelines found on the site www.arpa.gov.mt.
