The issue of developing a strategy goes back at least several years, when industry organizations associating the pig industry, first individually and then jointly (as part of the National Pork Council), submitted their proposals for mechanisms for healing the sector to the Ministry of Agriculture. Unfortunately, the then authorities remembered the strategy only a few months before the elections and the work was not completed.
There was silence regarding the strategy for several months, and recently Minister Jacek Czerniak dispelled illusions – there will be no strategy for rebuilding the pig population (at least in the form developed so far).
There will be no population reconstruction strategy
At the beginning of July, MP Krzysztof Ciecióra, former deputy minister of agriculture, submitted an interpellation in which he asked the ministry about the state of work on the strategy for rebuilding the pig population in Poland. He also asked about aid programs run by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the ministry's ideas for rebuilding the pig population in Poland.
In response to the above interpellation, Deputy Minister Jacek Czerniak informed that the assumptions of the program were subject to consultations with the pig and meat industries, as well as representatives of institutes and the world of science. Thus, an attempt was made to reconcile the needs of individual links in the pig production sector.
Then, the assumptions of the program were submitted to the Council of Ministers for consideration, but at this stage the Ministry of Finance and the Government Legislation Center submitted their comments. They pointed to doubts as to the formula and legal basis for developing such a program. As a result, work on developing a strategy for rebuilding the pig population was abandoned.
read more
However, according to the assurances of the deputy head of the Ministry of Agriculture, this does not mean that the industry's problems will be ignored by the ministry. Jacek Czarniak assured that the Ministry of Agriculture is working on two other support mechanisms, including ensuring investment financing for pig producers
As part of the Strategic Plan of the Common Agricultural Policy for 2023-2027 (PS CAP), preferential support was designed directly for pig producers, the aim of which is to rebuild the population of these animals in Poland. This support proposal was included in the amendment to the CAP 2023-2027 PS, which was submitted to the European Commission – we read in Jacek Czerniak's response.
read more
The industry is in crisis. We lost 7% during the year. herds of pigs
Preferential loans for breeders
As the Deputy Minister of Agriculture assured, the ministry is waiting for the approval of this project. The above proposal involves repayable support (preferential loan) for pig producers for the construction, expansion and modernization of pigsty and its equipment. The proposed assumptions for the preferential loan are:
- guarantee of up to 80% of the outstanding loan amount (up to PLN 9 million),
- repayment of interest for the farmer (including bank margin) for the first 4 years: for the first 2 years – 100% interest, for the next 2 years – 50% interest;
- loan guaranteed for up to 15 years,
- possibility (after individual bank assessment) of a grace period in capital repayment for a period of up to 2 years in the case of development investments that require an extended period of time to achieve full production capacity of the financed project,
- warranty provided free of charge.
The expected support plan is at the turn of 2024 and 2025.
