Millions of financing for rural areas of Saarland

In the next funding period from 2023 to 2027, Saarland will receive approximately €56 million from the European Fund for Agriculture and Rural Areas (EAFRD). This is more than double the previous annual tranche and is due to the success of negotiations at the agricultural ministerial conferences, Environment Minister Reinhold Jost (SPD) said Tuesday. With federal and state funds, that means a total budget of 131 million euros.

“There has never been as much money as there will be available for rural areas of the Saarland in the coming years,” Jost said. “Now we have the opportunity to implement what they have been doing for decades on an equal footing with other regions of Germany.”

The funds will be used, among other things, to invest in villages, local infrastructure and regional development at the district level. The expansion of organic farming will also be promoted – to 25 percent by 2025. 45 percent is to be used in so-called “green measures”, such as planting flowering plants for energy as an alternative to growing corn. To become more independent of imported soybeans, fiscal incentives must encourage the cultivation of protein crops.

‘The countryside in the Saarland has a future with us,’ said Jost. This is not something old, but something that will experience a resurgence in the coming years.”

dpa