Agriculture: Two programmes for developing Romanian food industry to be released on September 30

  Two programmes designed for the development of the Romanian food industry will be released on September 30, 2023, with the total funds that will be made available to this sector exceeding one billion euros."On the government agenda, there is an ambitious programme for agriculture and the food industry - Investalim. Even from the first week in which I took over the portfolio of agriculture, together with the prime minister, we started this programme that is funded by almost EUR 600 million. It is a state aid scheme, with an intensity of up to 70% per project. There will be major projects, of almost EUR 50 million euros/project. We took this decision because we want the raw material produced by Romanian farmers to stay in Romania, to be processed here so that more Romanian farmers and processors can export. We will release this programme on September 30," Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Florin Barbu said.He added that again for Romanian farmers and processors another programme will be released at the end of September under which support will be provided for the installation of photovoltaic panels at their farms."Also for the processing part, in order to be able to face price competition from imported products, we requested and obtained EUR 500 million euros from the European Investment Bank (EIB) via the Modernisation Fund, for a programme on energy independence in the food industry and agriculture, with an intensity of 100%. Thus, Romanian farmers and processors will be able to install photovoltaic panels in farms, in the food industry, in such a way that the costs per produce decrease, and Romanian produce becomes competitive and can be found in stores in Romania. This programme will also be released on September 30," he added.In September - October, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will release new measures under the Strategic Programme 2023-2027, for investment in fruit farms, animal husbandry and the installation of young farmers."We will release the Strategic Programme practically on European funds from the European agricultural fund for rural development (EAFRD), pillar II, for 2023-2027, the measure investment in fruit farms, which has almost EUR 151 million, and Investment in the livestock sector, on funds of EUR 224 million . In order to be able to access these European funds more easily, we divided them based on the deficit in the trade balance. Basically, those who will invest in animal husbandry will go on separate axes. (...) These will not be mixed projects. Everything is created to rectify Romania's trade balance," explained Barbu.As for the installation of young farmers, Barbu said that more than 70% of the total amount allocated will be directed towards vegetable farming, a sector in which Romania has a significant trade deficit."As far as the Strategic Programme goes, we have decided that for the installation of young farmers, almost EUR 175 million out of a total of EUR 250 million , should be allocated to the part of vegetable growing, and there will be a higher score there. The support granted - EUR 70,000 euros - has an intensity of 100%, and from this money the young people who will continue the vegetable growing programme will receive about 40% of the amount, representing EUR 30,000 , for greenhouse heating equipment, and 40,000 euros will be allocated for a period of three years for the necessary fuel, so that we can produce fruit and vegetables in Romania all year round. Under the 2023 Tomato programme, almost 8,500 out of 22,000 are young people under 41, and that made me step in in the Strategic Programme, because we had this axis dedicated to the installation of the young farmer up to the age of 41," added Barbu.