Small farmers will be harmed by the rules of the Rural Development Program (PDR), the successor to the Poder program in the current Community Support Framework, Portugal 2020.
This is the vision shared by the country's most representative farmers' confederations, which questioned some of the changes made, in relation to the past, in a Parliamentary Hearing promoted this Monday by the Algarve socialist deputy Miguel Freitas, in Tavira.
The session that took place at the Hotel Vila Galé de Tavira focused on the theme “New cycle of community policies for agriculture, forestry and rural development in the Algarve”. In it, six leaders of farmers' confederations were called to give their vision, namely Luís Mira (CAP), Aldina Fernandes (CONFAGRI), Alexandre Vinagre (CNA), Firmino Cordeiro (AJAP), Luís Saldanha (CNJ) and Luís Chaves, from Federation to My Earth. Moderation was in charge of former Proder manager Gabriela Ventura.
From a regional perspective, the big problem is related to the impossibility of reaching the maximum support ceiling, even for farmers who are located in areas considered to be disadvantaged.
In this field, there was, in the view of Miguel Freitas, "an error in the design of the program, on the part of the Government". "The program determines that a farmer from a disadvantaged area is entitled to a 40 percent contribution, which can be increased by 10 percent, if he is a young farmer and by the same amount, if he joins a producer organization," he explained. In other words, the level of reimbursement can reach 60 percent, for those who meet all the conditions.
The problem is that, in the Algarve, this does not happen, due to the "guillotine norm" imposed by the Government for rich regions, where the maximum contribution ceiling is 50 percent. So, even if an Algarve farmer meets all the requirements, he will never be able to benefit from 60 percent.
Firmino Cordeiro (AJAP): “It seems that, now, the rich young farmers are being distinguished from the poor”
Considering that this is facing "negative discrimination" in relation to Algarve farmers from disadvantaged areas, Miguel Freitas defended in statements to the Sul Informação, that the logic should be “30 per cent for rich areas, with a 10 per cent increase for young people and for those who join Producer Organizations”. "If the farmer in question were in a less-favoured area, he would have 10 percent more, thus reaching the possible 60", he defended.
Already the confederations, highlighted several negative changes, from the outset, one that affects, in a special way, small farmers. In the PDR, a measure to support small investments (up to 25 thousand euros) was opened, to be managed by Local Development Associations (ADL), but which is open to all farmers and not just to smaller ones, as in the past .
A decision that, in the opinion of the confederations, detracts from the purpose of this support. «I believe that, in this way, the measure is unfocused», summarized Luís Mira, from the Confederation of Farmers of Portugal (CAP), an opinion that was supported by his peers.
"Small farmers will be penalized by the only measure that was specifically aimed at them", considered, for his part, deputy Miguel Freitas, who will present a draft resolution this week in the Assembly of the Republic where he will raise some of the issues addressed in the session .
Another measure heavily criticized was the introduction of a minimum investment amount, so that a farmer can apply for support. In this case, the main criticisms come from the representatives of the young farmers. "It seems that now, rich young farmers are distinguished from poor ones", accused the leader of the Association of Young Farmers of Portugal Firmino Cordeiro.
According to this official, the PDR requires a basic investment of 55 thousand euros, to obtain support of 15 thousand euros, when before "35 thousand were enough". In other words, as Alexandre Vinagre, the representative of the National Confederation of Agriculture, “doubled the minimum investment amount, which leaves out many small farmers”.
Some doubts were also raised regarding the Government's goals, with regard to Producer Organizations. There are incentives for cooperation between farmers, which is positive, but there is distrust of the capacity that small and medium-sized farmers will have to access them, taking into account the defined rules.
“I think that the dimension of our agriculture is not what is expressed in this PDR. I think the bar was set too high, at almost all levels”, defended Firmino Cordeiro.
In the end, the most important thing is to receive on time
With defects or virtues, the PDR 2020 is here and now it is important to make the most of it, considered, on the other hand, the different players. And that will, in the head, go through a good management of the program. In other words, it is necessary to meet deadlines, especially for payment, so that farmers have more security in the investments they make.
«We all criticized Proder, because it was a bad program, but it ended up pleasing the farmers, because it was very well managed», praised Luís Mira, aiming at the debate moderator, who was responsible for this area, in that program.
"To be well managed, a program of this type must meet three fundamental requirements: 1st, pay on time, 2nd, pay on time, and 3rd, pay on time," said the CAP director, encouraging the laughter of many people who they insisted on attending the session, among which were many Algarvian mayors and academics.
In addition to the PDR's design and rules issues, Miguel Freitas will focus on another problem in his draft Resolution: the decrease in funds allocated to Rural Development, which, he considered, have almost disappeared.
«The Algarve ADLs – In Loco, Terras do Baixo Guadiana and Vicentina – will receive 2 to 3 million euros each, for the area of Diversification of Activities [support for projects that are not directly related to agriculture], when, in Proder, this figure rose to 6 million. We are facing a cut of half to two-thirds of the value," he stressed.
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