Takac: PPA to Pay €300 mn in Advance Payments to Farmers by 28 November

Bratislava, 4 November (TASR) - The Agricultural Payment Agency (PPA) started to pay out advance payments for direct payments under the 2025 call on Tuesday, Agriculture Minister Richard Takac (Smer-SD) announced at a news conference on the same day, adding that farmers will receive some €300 million in total in two rounds by 28 November. "A total of 14,073 applications have been submitted for this call, with farmers having until the end of May to file their applications. The requested amount, i.e. the amount that will be paid out in direct payments under this call, is some €600 million," said Takac. Farmers have applied for subsidies for almost 1.8 million hectares of land. PPA launched the first round of direct payments on Tuesday, while the second round will begin on 17 November and advance payments should be paid out by 28 November. PPA will start issuing final decisions as of the beginning of December. PPA general director Marek Cepko explained that advance payments will be provided, for example, for support in the form of a whole-farm eco-scheme, support for improving animal welfare by supporting pasture breeding, as well as for growing selected types of protein crops, growing sugar beet, herding cows for market milk production, herding sheep and goats, and also for supporting the cultivation of selected types of fruit and vegetables. As for the second round, PPA will provide advance payments for several kinds of support, mainly for areas with natural constraints, for precise fertilisation of arable land, for protecting water resources, for protecting and preserving biodiversity, for grassing over waterlogged arable land within the Natura 2000 network, and for forest-environmental and climate services. ko/df