In the hall of the parliament, during her speech, the minister of agriculture and rural development, Frida Krifca, spoke about the recently approved national scheme of support in agriculture. Agriculture for this year has received the largest fund ever granted in the last 30 years by the Albanian government, in support of farmers and ranchers. According to Krifca, it will be 3.2 billion lek that the Albanian government has allocated for the needs of agriculture in the next 12 months.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Frida Krifca, said that “The budget made available in direct support is the highest ever allocated after 1991, with 3.2 billion lek, not including the IPARD funds which for this purpose year they are expected to inject no less than 27 million euros into the sector.

At the government meeting yesterday, we approved VKM 101 for the national support scheme for agriculture, which we consulted widely with the actors of the sector. For the first time, farmers who produce in greenhouses will be supported on average from 20% to 40% of their input costs such as seeds, seedlings or other inputs needed for the production process. Production systems in greenhouses are the ones that have higher input costs, that is, the ones that are most affected by this price increase. Our support will also go to the construction of solar greenhouses, significantly influencing the addition of new surfaces. At the same time, we will continue to support farmers with free oil to reduce the costs of mechanized work in crops and in the more effective use of agricultural land and the increase of the cultivated area. The expected effect is to double the number of beneficiaries of the previous year.
We will continue to support animal husbandry and beekeeping to reduce production costs and increase the number of heads”.

With this support, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development aims to: Improve and increase the absorption of the diesel support scheme for mechanized works that reduce production costs; construction of solar greenhouses for the addition of new surfaces, support for seeds and seedlings, organic and Global GAP certification, as well as expansion of the surface planted with medicinal plants, expanding the export potential; support for expansion of livestock, livestock markets and beekeeping; expansion of agricultural markets that bring farmers together for sale, in cooperation with the local government; support for innovation and digitization in farms; the establishment of the National Information Scheme in agriculture, livestock and fishing in cooperation with the Agricultural University of Tirana, creating the center of excellence and innovation of production systems; strengthening the fishing sector by renovating vessels, fishing infrastructure and expanding export capacities.