Farmers submitted 1 479 applications worth 72 315 705 BGN during the application period under Measure 112: Setting up young farmers between August 20 and September 11. The budget for this period was 78 232 000 BGN, which is enough to finance all projects that meet the admission criteria set under the decree regulating Measure 112.

The funds were transferred to its budget with the seventh notification of the Rural Development Programme (RDP) because of increased interest in it. The projects will be reviewed in the shortest possible terms. A new condition when applying this year was that candidates’ holdings have a size of four, instead of two, economical size units. Another condition was that they prove their right to use the land of the whole holding with a title or rent document. As usual, candidates had to prepare a five-year business plan.

A priority will be given to farmers who hold a high school or university degree in the fields of agriculture, veterinary medicine or agrarian economics, as well as those who have a certificate for completing a 150-hour class in the same fields; the projects planning activities entirely in the stock-breeding sector; the projects of young farmers whose holdings are transitioning or have transitioned to organic farming; the projects of young farmers who have applied or plan to apply for funding under RDP Measure 214: Agri-environment payments; as well as projects from the regions of Blagoevgrad, Varna, Gabrovo, Kardjali, Lovech, Razgrad, Silistra, Smolian, Sofia and Pernik.