Contribution for renewal of apple trees for fruit farms - Year 2022 - Application

This type of aid is specific and in support of the fruit-growing sector to renovate old apple orchards, encourage varietal change and combat diseases caused by harmful organisms. They have been adopted at this important time of economic recovery in order to adapt production to market requirements and the vocation and typicality of the areas.

Aid may be cumulated with other schemes or ad hoc aid provided that the total amount of State aid for an activity or project does not exceed the aid ceilings laid down in the Guidelines, i.e. 40%.

Aid will be granted in the form of capital grants.

Below is guidance oneligibility:

- eligible expenditure per application

- minimum amount euro 2,500.00 excluding VAT

To be respected both in the granting phase and in the final settlement phase;

The maximum eligible expenditure per application is Euro 90,000.00.

The maximum eligible cost per stick is as follows

• Euro 5.5 for traditional varieties
• Euro 6.5 for club varieties;
• Euro 7.5 for scab-resistant varieties only, as listed in Annex 1 of the criteria resolution.

The aid intensity is 40 per cent of eligible expenditure and is granted as a lump sum.

Only one aid application may be submitted.

Only projects whose work or activities commenced after the application was submitted to the competent national authority are eligible.

Costs for the renewal of apple orchards consisting solely of the purchase of nursery material are eligible.

Only renewals of apple trees over 10 years old are eligible.

By way of derogation from the minimum age of 10 years of the plant to be grubbed up, the total and/or partial replacement of plants affected by the infestation of Erwinia amylovora, the agent of fire blight, as well as apple tree dieback, is eligible for funding, even if these plants have already been the subject of aid in previous years.

Applications may be submitted from 14 February 2022 until 31 March 2022.

Expenditure paid by the beneficiary by bank or postal transfer or by Ri.Ba, to the current account in the name of the beneficiary, is eligible.

The Unique Project Code (CUP) must be indicated on all invoices and payments. The code is assigned by the competent Structure when the initiative is approved for the grant.

Prior to the final payment, the competent Structure for Agriculture will carry out sample checks on at least 7% of the farms benefiting from the grant, checking that the facilities have been set up in compliance with the technical standards set out in the integrated production specifications or in accordance with the criteria of good cultivation techniques.

The granting of the contribution entails the obligation for the beneficiary to respect the use of the orchard planting for at least 10 years. The term starts on the date of the application for the grant.

In the event of the alienation of the asset before the expiry of the terms, the beneficiaries are obliged, except for force majeure causes, to repay the granted contribution in proportion to the remaining duration of the current period.

The beneficiary of the grants shall allow the staff in charge of monitoring the application of the regulations in force, free access to the facilities and documentation pertaining to the subject matter of the granted content.

Checks on the compliance of applicants with their obligations are foreseen on a sample equal to 5% of of the interventions subject to constraints.

Checks on declarations in lieu of certification and affidavits will be carried out on a sample of at least 5% of the files.

The following are eligible for aid under this measure, as provided for by Provincial Law 4/2003:

(a) individual agricultural enterprises, as identified by current State and Provincial legislation;

(b) companies set up to run agricultural businesses as identified under point (a).

Entities not yet established as companies may also be eligible, provided that they are young people who have submitted an application for a Young Farmers' Settlement to the administration.

The above-mentioned beneficiaries must not be members of agricultural cooperatives, of cooperatives for the collection, processing and marketing of agricultural products and their consortia, of agrarian associations however denominated, or of associations of agricultural producers recognised under the relevant legislation in force. They must also be registered in the special section of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Crafts and Agriculture.

Applicant farms must have their operational headquarters in the Province of Trento and be in possession of an agricultural VAT number.

Applicants must be in possession of a farm file in the Province of Trento on the date the application is submitted. The file must contain the parcels of land subject to intervention.

The applicant must declare that he/she has been authorised to carry out the work by the landowner, in the case of parcels not owned.

The technical characteristics contemplated in the integrated production specifications must be respected when carrying out the planting.

For the calculation of the planting area, please refer to the provisions of Criteria Resolution No 194/2022.

The application may be submitted by the aid beneficiary or by the person (consultant) delegated to enter the application in SRTrento.

Applications must be submitted using the computerised procedures on the portal https://srt.infotn.it

To submit an application, you must

- have a digital signature;

- whoever enters the application (the applicant or the appointed consultant) must be accredited to the portal, as specified on this webpage

The application must be digitally signed by the person entitled to sign the document, otherwise it will be inadmissible.

The aid application must contain a declaration in lieu of affidavit stating

• the list of plots of land to be renewed and the relevant title of use
• that they have been authorised to carry out the work by the landowner, in the case of plots not owned by the applicant
• that I have neither applied for nor obtained, for the planned work, any other assistance except within the limits of the provisions in force
• that it is not the subject of an outstanding recovery order following a previous Commission decision declaring the aid unlawful and incompatible with the internal market
• that it is not in difficulty within the meaning of paragraph 35(15) of the Guidelines.
• that, at the time of submitting the application, it has, with reference to the size of the land declared in the farm file during the year preceding the year in which the application is submitted, taken steps to grub up, where applicable, all plants showing symptoms caused by harmful organisms (such as Candidatus phytoplasma mali agent of apple blight, Erwinia amylovora agent of bacterial fire blight or apple blight).

The following documents must be attached to the application

1. report signed by the applicant indicating at least one of the objectives set out in point 4.1 of the criteria resolution;

2. detailed cost estimate indicating the amount per individual variety for renewal and the number of canes

3. list provided by the administration where the applicant must indicate

- identification number of each parcel to be renewed and its cadastral municipality,

- surface area to be renewed

- variety and age of the plants grubbed up,

- varieties to be renewed and their rootstock,

- number of plants and planting distances,

- estimated cost of plant material.

4. appropriate certification issued by the Edmund Mach Foundation, or by another competent certifying body, showing the parcel(s) subject to planting on which the infestation of Erwinia amylovora, the fire blight agent, has occurred.

The preliminary examination of the applications is assigned to the competent Service for agriculture, which is responsible for drawing up the technical-administrative preliminary report. Subsequently, the report is approved by a determination of the Director in which, among other things, the following are specified: beneficiary, eligible expenditure, percentage of contribution, amount of contribution, CUP code and deadlines for the execution of the initiatives.

The examination of the applications is concluded with the adoption of a measure granting the contribution by the Director of the competent Service within 45 days starting from the day after the deadline for submitting applications.

In the case of applications that do not meet the requirements, a refusal measure will be adopted.

The expenses incurred must be reported by the beneficiary by 31 December 2022

The adoption of the measure granting/denying the contribution will be communicated to the beneficiary by letter via PEC to the farm.

For final payment of the contribution, an application for payment must be submitted through the portal https://srt.infotn.it/, digitally signed by the applicant, specifying the amount requested, net of VAT and ineligible expenses.