Agri-environmentalsupport for traditional olive groves This support was initially established in 1999 under the Rural Development Plan – RURIS; however, it was discontinued and only resumed under PDR2020, the 2014–2020 Rural Development Programme, and subsequently continued under the current CAPSP. In the PDR2020, this support was included under operation 7.6.1 ‘Traditional Permanent Crops’, whilst in the CAPSP it constitutes subintervention C.1.1.2.2.1.1 ‘Permanent Crops – Traditional Olive Groves’, which forms part of intervention C.1.1.2.2 ‘Permanent Crops and Traditional Landscapes’. Support for ‘Traditional Permanent Crops’ is intended to ensure the maintenance of traditional permanent crop systems (traditional olive groves and traditional orchards: fig orchards, almond groves, chestnut groves, traditional Algarve orchards, extensive and rain-fed orchards) which are important for environmental conservation, the maintenance of biodiversity, plant genetic heritage and the preservation of characteristic landscapes. Traditional olive groves are clearly the most important of these systems. The eligibility criteria are: • a minimum area of 0.3 hectares within the geographical area of application; • planting density within the specified limits: ≥ 45 and ≤ 240 trees per hectare, with at least 80 per cent of the olive trees being 30 years of age or older; a minimum of 70 per cent or 60 per cent is permitted, with a reduction in support of 10 per cent or 20 per cent respectively, which allows for some renewal of the olive grove. The commitments are: • to maintain the eligibility criteria throughout the five-year commitment period; • to ensure the trees remain in good vegetative and health condition, in particular through pruning and clearing; • to control spontaneous woody vegetation dominated by shrubs taller than 50 cm, so that they do not occupy more than 10 per cent of the area covered by the commitment; • to control herbaceous or woody vegetation without the use of herbicides. The support provided is as follows: • for the first 10 hectares, 162 euros per hectare, • for the next 40 hectares, 90 euros per hectare; and • for hectares beyond the fiftieth, 50 euros per hectare, thereby prioritising support for smaller holdings, which are the most common, whilst also taking economies of scale into account. It should be noted that these support amounts have been in place since the start of the previous programming period, the PDR2020, and that an update of these figures would be justified, given the inflation observed since 2014. Figures and characteristics of olive groves under the CAP’s agrienvironmental support The area of olive groves on holdings making use of the CAP’s Single Application (SA) scheme amounted to 318,154 hectares in 20242 , of which 135,122 hectares – that is, 42.47% of the total – are irrigated, and 183,031 hectares – 57.53% – are rainfed. Traditional olive groves account for around two-thirds of the rain-fed olive grove area, that is 117,000 hectares, corresponding to 37% of the total olive grove area under the Single Application scheme. It should be noted that of the olive grove area in the SA that does not receive support for traditional olive groves, 115,646 hectares, or 50.89%, is located on farms with a type of farming 2 It should be noted that the total olive grove area, according to the 2019 Agricultural Census(RGA) was 377 234 hectares, there is therefore a significant area of olive groves situated on holdings that do not receive any form of support. Public policies in Portugal to support olive groves 117
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