The Agriculture Ministry plans to disburse more than half of its annual budget to support farmers, worth €66 million, Agriculture Minister Frida Krifca told the media on Tuesday.
“The 2023 budget will allocate 55.1% to farmers,” she told the media. This is more than 10% higher than the average direct allocation between 2012 and 2022.
The remaining funds will be used to support agritourism in collaboration with the Albanian Development Fund. Agritourism is a crucial sector for Albania which is finding its feet internationally as a tourist destination.
Meanwhile, earlier this week, Prime Minister Edi Rama announced that financial penalties would be for any farmers who leave farmland fallow. Touring the country and speaking with farmers, Rama said a legal intervention would be made, including a super tax to stop land owners from “holding land hostage”.
“We have problems with the land, we hold it hostage, and we will not allow this. We are preparing a legal intervention; either you cultivate it or lease it, but you cannot hold it hostage. You cannot keep the land you have and do nothing about it,” Rama said.
Farmers will also get relief from the excise tax on agricultural fuel, turnover tax and carbon tax. They will also pay half the fuel price.
“We will remove excise, turnover tax and carbon tax from fuel for agricultural production and reduce the price of fuel for farmers,” said Rama, adding that the amount of fuel a farmer needs to work their land is calculated and that the value will be converted into the specified amount of fuel that will be provided free of charge.
(Alice Taylor | Exit.al)
Source: euractiv.com
