85,000 Farmers Requested Support

The Agency for Payments in Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development has reported that 85,000 farmers have filled out the electronic application for direct payments for 2013, and there are still seven days left until the deadline for submitting applications.

The application is filled out using the electronic application AGRONET and is submitted in person or by registered mail to the regional offices of the Agency for Payments by May 15.

For all farmers who are unable to fill out the application electronically themselves, assistance is provided by approximately 300 people at 90 different locations, as in addition to the staff of the regional offices of the Agency for Payments in Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development, assistance is also provided by the staff of the Agricultural Advisory Service and the Croatian Agricultural Agency.

In all offices of the three institutions, a Handbook for Agricultural Holdings is available free of charge, detailing which supports can be obtained from this year, the Agency reminds.

They also urge farmers to respond to phone calls from the staff of the three institutions and not to wait until the last deadline for submitting the Single Application to avoid large crowds that form as the deadline for submitting applications approaches.

The Agency draws attention to the fact that before submitting the Single Application, farmers are required to update their data in the registers (ARKOD, Register of Agricultural Holdings, Unique Register of Domestic Animals, etc.) in case of changes on the farm.

They remind that from this year, the Common Agricultural Policy of the EU replaces the previous national support system in agriculture, and two major European funds are available to Croatian farmers – the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund, which guarantees stable income for farmers, and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, which improves the operations of agricultural holdings.

To obtain funds from the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund and national funds, farmers must be registered in the Register of Agricultural Holdings once a year, their land must be recorded in the ARKOD system, and the animals on the farm must be registered in the Unique Register of Domestic Animals.

In addition to these conditions, farmers are also required to comply with the conditions of good agricultural and environmental practices and must submit the single application to the Agency for Payments in Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development between March 1 and May 15.