Aid package of €23 million to help Polish farmers

The Polish Ministry of Agriculture has made 100 million PLN (approximately 23 million euro) available to cultivators who have been affected by weather damage in 2016. Poland experienced various weather extremes in 2016: spring frost, a drought in the May-June period, and copious amounts of rain in August and September.

Cultivators whose harvests were affected for 50 to 70 per cent by damage due to weather will receive a compensation of up to 400 PLN per hectare. If the available amount is overcharged, the compensation per hectare will be corrected. If the crops were not insured for at least one of the causes on the date the damage occurred, the amount of support will be halved. Since 1 July 2008, an applicant for direct payments in Poland is obliged to insure at least 50 per cent of crop surface against at least one type of weather risk (flooding, drought, hail, negative effects of drainage and spring frost). However, research shows that for approximately 1.37 million applications for direct payments, with a surface of about 14 million hectares, only 160,000 insurances have been taken out (12 per cent of the number of applicants of direct payments) for only three million hectares of crops. The availability of the 100 million PLN is the government’s second measure related to weather damage. Earlier, the government increased subsidies on insurance policies in Poland. Distribution of the 100 million PLN in aid takes place under the heading deminimus.

Source: Agroberichten Buitenland