Portuguese agriculture to receive innovation boost
The LEADER+ programme, which aims to promote innovation in agriculture, has been approved for Portugal and will be supported with 269.9 million euro between 2001 and 2006. All rural areas of Portugal will benefit from the programme, including Portugal's two autonomous regions: Madeira and the Azores Islands. The specific objectives of LEADER+ in Portugal are to promote innovation and pilot projects for integrated and sustainable approaches, to ensure dissemination of knowledge and transfer of experiences and 'know how' at European level, to mobilise, reinforce and improve local initiatives and local skills, to promote cooperation between rural areas and to promote the attractiveness of rural spaces. 'These programmes aim to pilot new ideas to improve the quality of life in rural areas of Portugal,' said EU Commissioner for Agriculture, rural development and fisheries, Franz Fischler. Some 60.5 per cent of the funding will come from the EU's structural funds, and the remaining 39.5 per cent from Portugal itself.
Countries
Portugal