Leave your boats and farms and get an EU grant

As of today farmers who are willing to give up their land and fishermen who surrender their fishing boats can count on attractive pensions and grants. The Agriculture Ministry predicts that during the next two and a half years one in ten farmers and one in three fishermen will quit their jobs. Farmers who are over 55 years old can apply for subsidies, the size of which will depend on the size of the land they hand over to the government, e.g. a farmer leaving a three hectare farm will receive a monthly pension of zł.1,432 for the next ten years, as compared to the average monthly earning of zł.517 from a three hectare plot. Subsistence farmers appear greatly interested in such structural pensions. Some started preparing for the program last year as it is very difficult to meet the EU requirements. Moreover, the amount of money allocated for the project is limited (EUR 640 million) and the subsidies will be granted to those who applied first. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B1) D.W.