Agriculture, Financial Services, Insurance

Both provisions were part of a proposal of the Ministry of Rural Affairs for amending the Rural Development Plan 2014–2020. The necessary money will be taken from budgeted expenditure items less actively used to date, such as support for agri-environmental production methods, spokespeople for the ministry said.

Support for organic farming will rise by 4.8 mln euros to 87.2 mln euros.

"The Estonian organic farming sector has been developing rapidly and also the number of recipients of support has increased significantly," Minister of Rural Affairs Tarmo Tamm said in a press release.

The amount of money earmarked for support for organic farming was increased because a gap has emerged in the budget of the measure and the ministry was faced with the prospect of having to cut the rates of support.

In addition, a risk management measure in the form of support for the payment of insurance premiums was created.

"It is important for farmers to engage in risk management that would enable to mitigate the impact of weather damage and setbacks on the markets," Tamm said. He said that the role of the state in this first and foremost is to establish an environment favorable of risk management, whereas the responsibility for dispersing risks lies mainly with farmers.

The measure to cover 70% of the premiums paid by farmers in crop insurance, livestock and plant insurance is to take effect from 2019.

It appears from the draft decision of the government that crop cultivators in Estonia number approximately 9,500, cultivators of fruit trees, berries and nursery operators 1,300, and cattle farmers approximately 6,900. The target group of the measure is a maximum 2,100 applicants, including 1,900 producers having more than 100 hectares of land as well as 200 major cattle and pig farmers.

Only insurance taken out against damage caused by adverse weather conditions and weather conditions comparable to a natural disaster, such as cold weather, storm, hail, ice, strong rain or severe drought, is eligible for support. Also eligible are insurance against animal and plant diseases, pests, and an environmental incident.