Last Tuesday, January 15, the Andalusian Government Council learned of the Aid Order aimed at "reducing energy dependence through self-production and improvement of irrigation facilities" that the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Sustainable Development will be launched in the coming weeks.
The Andalusian Executive plans to open two calls of aid in this month of January, with a total budget of 6.5 million euros, an endowment divided equally between the 2020 and 2021 annuities.
This amount, co-financed by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the central and regional administrations, includes 1.5 million euros related to the Integrated Territorial Investment (ITI) of the province of Cádiz 2014-2020.
The subsidies, which are being called for the first time with the 2018 Order as a reference, unify the old lines of aid for self-production and improvement of facilities, with new features regarding the incentives that were previously offered, such as, for example, the possibility of access advance payment of up to 50% of the grant awarded. Furthermore, it has increased the maximum amount per beneficiary for the execution of works, which amounts to the million euros (previously the limit was 500,000 euros), while the eligible amount has been modulated based on the committed reduction in consumption from the network, while before it was established based on the surface (maximum of €3,000/MWh)» .
These incentives will be accessible to irrigation communities, central boards and general communities recognized as public law corporations, who will have one month to submit applications. This period will begin the day following the publication in the Official Gazette of the Junta de Andalucía (BOJA) of the corresponding extract of the Order.
Irrigation in Andalusia
Based on the data currently available, in Andalusia there are around 3.5 million hectares dedicated to agricultural production, of which just over 1.1 million correspond to irrigation (31% of the total). This percentage is one of the highest among the autonomous communities and places the Andalusian region in fifth place nationally, very close to the two immediately preceding territories (Catalonia and Navarra).
Purpose of aid
The objective of the Ministry with the implementation of this support for farmers is to contribute to improving the economic results of agricultural holdings, facilitating their restructuring and modernization to increase their participation and orientation towards the market, as well as agricultural diversification.
These incentives respond to one of the rural development priorities set by the European Union, specifically, to improve the viability of agricultural holdings and the competitiveness of all types of agriculture, as well as the promotion of agricultural technologies. innovations and sustainable forest management.
Furthermore, the Andalusian Government hopes that these aid will contribute to promoting more efficient use of water and energy in this activity to minimize its possible impact on the environment.
Eligible concepts
Among the actions that are considered eligible for subsidies are the implementation and improvement of infrastructure linked to energy self-production in collective irrigation facilities, as well as those aimed at expanding facilities of this type to cover the energy needs of the farms.
These incentives also support, among other concepts:
- project writing costs
- construction management costs
- the work aimed at technologically improving the pumping equipment and electrical installation.
