Fresh round of rural funding available

A FURTHER round of funding under the Scotland Rural Development Programme (SRDP) was announced yesterday by the Scottish Government.

Farmers are being invited to submit applications for funding for agri-environment projects under the Rural Priorities programme by 30 March next year for assessment next September.

More than £450 million has been awarded to more than 6,000 projects since the programme was launched in 2008 but large funding awards in the early days, particularly for agri-business developments, left the SRDP short of cash and payments have now been capped.

However, cabinet secretary for rural affairs Richard Lochhead has given an assurance that, despite the current economic difficulties, funding is still available for new projects.

But he added: “We need to manage it carefully to ensure it benefits as many applicants as possible. I want to ensure we continue to get maximum benefit from Rural Priorities until the end of the programme in 2013.”

Lochhead said he would be consulting with the industry about the funding of business development and diversification projects.