The Northern Dimension of Less-favoured Areas Examples from Finland - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

The Northern Dimension of Less-favoured Areas – Examples from Finland Mr. Heimo Hanhilahti, Director General Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry 26.5.2009 Tallinn

2 3.6.2009 www.maailmankartta.fi

3 3.6.2009 MMM kuva-arkisto

Farming zones, length of the growing season and effective temperature sum Zones I-II: Bread cereals (wheat and rye) Zones III-IV: Fodder cereals (oats and barley), grasses in northern parts of the zone Zone V: Grasses, in northern parts of the zone conditions poor for grasses as well 4 3.6.2009 SOURCE: Agrifood Research Finland MTT, Finnish Meteorological Institute

5 3.6.2009 Tapio Heikkilä

6 3.6.2009 MMM kuva-arkisto

Facts from Finland • In Finland only 8% of the land area is farmland. • The arable parcels are fragmented due to big amount of forestland, soil stoniness and lakes. • Growing season is short and effective temperature sum is low. • In the beginning of growing period, ground is still frozen. • Night frost during the growing period can break plant growth. 7 3.6.2009

Finnish view of LFA review • The commision communication for review is good basis. • Areas with natural handicap (former LFA) should be defined by common criteria. • In these areas the productivity of agriculture production is low due to climate and soil conditions. • The Commission has not so far presented criteria for defining extensive farming – for Finland this would be a difficult issue. In general we consider that Finnish agriculture as a whole is extensive. 8 3.6.2009