The Agency for Restructuring and Modernization of Agriculture (ARIMR) has started the applications process for subsidies for the purchase of fertilizers. Subsidies will cover the price difference between fertilizers purchased from September 1, 2021, to May 15, 2022. The application process will last until May 16, subsidies will amount to PLN 250 and PLN 500 per hectare.

The amount of support for agricultural crops (no more than 50 ha) will be PLN 500 per 1 ha, for meadows and pastures and grasses on arable land PLN 250 per 1 ha. The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Henryk Kowalczyk, would like farmers to receive a refund of the difference in fertilizer prices.

“We would like these applications to be considered as soon as possible, but we expect that almost all farmers from over 1 million farms will submit some applications”, said the head of the ministry. He added that ARIMR will process applications as soon as possible and most of the money should be paid out within two months.

Last week, the European Commission approved a Polish program worth PLN 3.9 billion to support Polish agriculture in the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The decision follows the adoption of the Temporary State Aid Emergency Crisis Framework. They allow the Member States to use state aid legislation with some flexibility to support the economy in the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The framework allows for several types of aid – firstly, a limited amount of up to 35,000. euros for enterprises in the agricultural, fisheries and aquaculture sectors affected by the crisis and up to 400,000 euro for enterprises operating in other sectors. Secondly, it is liquidity support in the form of state guarantees and subsidized loans. Thirdly, states can apply aid that will compensate for high energy prices.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński