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Measures to improve the environment and the countryside by supporting land

management

Ministry of Rural DevelopmentDepartment of Agricultural Development

Szalai András2011. June 27.

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The general objective of Axis II of the NHRDP

to improve the environment and the countryside by supporting land management

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Measures targeting the sustainable management of agricultural areas

1. Areas with handicaps

2. Natura 2000 payments

3. Agri-environmental payments4. Preservation of native and endangered farm animals’

genetic resources through breeding5. Preservation of plant genetic resources6. Assistance provided non-productive investments+1 Animal welfare payments

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Measures targeting the sustainable management of forest areas

7. First afforestation of agricultural land

8. First establishment of agro-forestry systems on agricultural land

9. The first afforestation of non-agricultural land

10. Forest-environment payments

11. Restoring forestry potential and introduction of preventive actions

12. Non-productive investments on forest areas

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Legal background of Axis II measures

EU regulations:• Council Regulation No 1698/2005; Commission Regulations

1974/2006 and 1975/2006

Document adopted by the Commission:• New Hungary Rural Development Programme 2007-2013 (for the

whole country area)

National regulation:• Ministerial level regulations of the measures

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Payments to farmers in areas with handicaps, other than mountain areas (Less Favoured Areas)

Scope and action: To provide compensation payments for farming on less favoured grassland and fodder areas.No payment can be made, if the following crops are grown: autumn or spring wheat, rice, sunflower,

corn, sugar beet, potato, industrial purpose crops and vegetables.From 2009 onwards, farmers have to comply the rules of the cross-compliance, as provided by

Annex III. of 1782/2003 EC Regulation, and they have to continue of farming activities on LFA areas for 5 years after the first transfer of the compensatory payments.

Geographic areas: In areas specified in Articles 19 or 20 of Regulation No. 1257/1999/EC, and marked in the

Hungarian Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS-Hu) (Article 19.: areas with poor productivity, difficult land use; lower-than-average production; low density of the population with high share of agricultural workers; Article 20.: areas were selected on the basis of 2 out of a total of 4 specific handicaps (agronomic limiting factors).

Beneficiaries: each registered agricultural producer

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Natura 2000 payments on agricultural areas

Scope of actionCompensation for farming at Natura 2000 grasslands for the compliance with the

Council Directive 79/409/EEC of April 2, 1979, on the conservation of wild birds and and the Directive 92/43/EEC of May 21, 1992, on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora

Farmers shall compliance with the provisions for land use determined in the Regulation 269/2007 of the Hungarian Government

Geographic area: Natura 2000 grasslands indicated in LPIS determined according to the Regulation

275/2004 of the Hungarian Government

Scope of the beneficiaries: agricultural producers, land users

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The first afforestation of agricultural land

Content of the measureAfforestation on less suitable for agricultural cultivation areas

Support:- establishment (first year, basic and supplementary support)- maintenance (first five years)- support for loss of income (farmers – higher amount support for loss of income)- period of support for loss of income depending on the standing types (max. 15 years)

Geographic Area: Total area of Hungary

Scope of the beneficiaries: agricultural producer, and each user of the agricultural areas

Period of covenant:1-5-10-15 years depending on the standing types

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Forest-environment payments

Content of the measure: Compensation payments for forest managers taking on voluntary forest-environmental commitments exceeding the minimum requirements in 9 schemes

Schemes:1. Repression of aggressively expanding non-indigenous tree and shrub species2. Selection forest management;3. Conversion of forest stands and maintenance based on manual work;4. Reduction of clear-cutting with artificial regeneration;5. Ensuring special forest habitats, and the conditions for natural forest regeneration (Creation

and maintenance of micro-habitats, Leaving groups of trees after final felling, Bush regulation to ensure the success of forest regeneration);

6. Postponement of final felling in order to protect soil and habitat;7. Maintenance of forests for public welfare purposes;8. Creation and maintenance of forest clearings;9. Application of environmentally friendly materials handling methods

Geographic Area: Total area of Hungary

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Agri-environmental measurehorizontal and zonal schemes based on area

• Main objective: promotion and support of environmentally friendly farming practices

• Precedent: agri-environmental measure of the National Rural Development Plan (NRDP)

– Great number of supported farmers (cc 25.000), significant area affected (1,5 million ha)

• Scope of beneficiaries: agricultural producers, land users• Form of support: 5 year term; normative, area-based payment, non-refundable • Intensity of support:

– Total public expenditure: 1.137 million €– EAFRD contribution: 874 million €

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• Support value: depends on type of scheme (11-220 €/ha in case of arable land, 60-120 €/ha for grassland, 330-900 €/ha for plantation and 60-160 €/ha for wetland)

• Eligible activities: – Fulfilment of the schemes’ prescriptions– Commitments must exceed the minimum requirements specified in

CR 1782/2003/EC– Area-based payments (horizontal and zonal)

• Selection criteria of beneficiaries:– Environmental sensitivity of the area (Natura 2000, nitrate sensitive

etc. areas)– Harmony between animal husbandry and plant production– Experience of the applicant in environmentally friendly production

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• Support period: Between 1st of September 2009 and 31st of August 2014./2019.

• Submission period of support claim : Between 1st of June and 25th of July, 2009.

• Submission period of area identification claim: Until 15th of May (max. 9th of June), 2010, before the submission of the payment claim

• Submission period of payment claim : With the single electronical claim, between 1st of April and 15th of May in every year

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2002 (NAEP)

2003 (NAEP)

2004 (NRDP)

2009 (NHRDP)

Number of applicants 5 321 7 503 35 855 24 973

Claimed area (ha) 271 751 301 383 1 833 705

2 259 984

Number of supported farmers

2 493 5 056 23 840 14 688

Suported area (ha) 148 627 234 631 1 481 000

1 163 663

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Zonal Anti-erosion scheme (wind)

Anti-erosion scheme (water)

Nature cons. purpose farming (ncpf) – Red-footed falcon

Nature cons. purpose grassland establishment

ncpf – bird/small game Env. land use change scheme

ncpf – wild goose/crane ncpf – habitat management

Management of wetlands

ncpf – great bustard ncpf – great bustard

Conversion of arable land into wetland

Hori-zontal

Man. of trad. homesteads (tanya)

Management of trad. orchards

Organic farming Org. grassland management

Organic fruit production

Integrated farming Extensive grass-land management

Integrated fruit production

Reed management

Arable schemes Grassland schemes

Plantation schemes

Wetland schemes

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Agri-environmental indicators

Beside CMEF indicators, the following specific (so called „own”) indicators are proposed:

• supported person related data (agricultural producer or other land user) • supported area related data (ha) / Natura2000, LFA, nitrate sensitive area /• land utilization related data (ha) /grassland-meadow, pasture, arable land-vegetable,

plantation/

Effect indicator monitoring system: on the basis of collected data of this monitoring system, a special evaluation can be performed focused on the results, impacts and relevance of the intervention.

The system has 3+1 main parts: 1.) nature conservation/biodiversity (bird/target species – insects – botany/coenology)2.) environment protection (soil – water – land use)3.) economy (profitability/expenses – social/employment aspects)+1) informatics (storage – query of data)

Effect indicator monitoring will be held on the 10% of the whole supported area.

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Thank you for your attention!