€400 million to be allocated for agricultural sector

Over €400 million is expected to be made available to the agricultural sector over the next five years by the Cyprus Agricultural Payments Organisation (Capo).

Capo commissioner Andreas Kyprianou explained on Friday that the funds are to be made available as part of the common agricultural policy.

Speaking at the House finance committee, he said that the significant amount of funding comes at a particularly challenging period for the sector – pointing to lingering impacts from the pandemic and hurdles from the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Kyprianou added that the organisation is also tasked with implementing the urgent contributions approved by the government, emphasising the high cost of animal feed and fertilisers – with such subsidies continuing into 2023.

“2023 marks the implementation of the next five-year common agricultural policy… during this time €400m is expected to be made available to the primary sector,” he said.

The commissioner emphasised that the next five years will require major changes, such as reducing the organisation’s administrative costs through the use of technology such as aerial photography.

Other changes include a mentality shift away from imposing fines towards consulting with the various farmers and informing them of the mistakes, offering advice towards improvement. There will also be a bigger push towards informing farmers as to how to best utilise the organisation’s tools.

During 2022, Capo paid €92m to farmers in Cyprus which benefited 33,000 claimants, of whom 22,000 were small farmers.