EU grants Turkish agriculture €300m

Turkish farmers are to receive €300 million (£218m) from the European Union, as they prepare the country’s agricultural industry for EU access.

The Agricultural and Rural Development Commission of the EU said that the grant should be spent on bringing the state of the industry into line with the requirements of the EU market prior to membership.

Turkey is formulating plans to put agencies and bodies in place to receive and distribute the funds, probably towards the end of next year.

Between 2002 and 2006 Turkey received €166m (£121m) for its agricultural development programmes.