Without payments from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), a large proportion of areas with natural constraints (mountains, land in arid or cold regions) would be at risk of being abandoned, according to a study published on Wednesday 19 July by the European Commission.
Direct payments and investments made as part of rural development programmes “help maintain farming and rural livelihood in these special areas”, according to the study.
The income gap between farms located in these less favourable areas and those outside them remains wide: 20.4% less in mountain areas and 26.5% less in these areas other than mountains. “Without public support, a significant share of these farms would have to cease their activity”, according to the report.
The data shows that farms specialising in field crops in mountain and non-mountain areas with constraints use 55% and 26% less nitrogen fertiliser respectively than farms of the same type outside these difficult areas. Similarly, among farms specialising in permanent crops, spending per hectare on pesticides in farms in mountain and non-mountain areas with natural constraints is 56% and 49% lower respectively than in farms outside these areas.
For more information: https://aeur.eu/f/868 (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)