ANNEX IIIU.K.
BIOPHYSICAL CRITERIA FOR THE DELIMITATION OF AREAS FACING NATURAL CONSTRAINTS
| CRITERION | DEFINITION | THRESHOLD |
|---|---|---|
| CLIMATE | ||
| Low Temperaturea | Length of growing period (number of days) defined by number of days with daily average temperature > 5 °C (LGPt5) or | ≤ 180 days |
| Thermal-time sum (degree-days) for Growing Period defined by accumulated daily average temperature > 5 °C | ≤ 1 500 degree-days | |
| Dryness | Ratio of the annual precipitation (P) to the annual potential evapotranspiration (PET) | P/PET ≤ 0.5 |
| CLIMATE AND SOIL | ||
| Excess Soil Moisture | Number of days at or above field capacity | ≥ 230 days |
| SOIL | ||
| Limited Soil Drainagea | Areas which are water logged for significant duration of the year | Wet within 80 cm from the surface for over 6 months, or wet within 40 cm for over 11 months or Poorly or very poorly drained soil or Gleyic colour pattern within 40 cm from the surface |
| Unfavourable Texture and Stoninessa | Relative abundance of clay, silt, sand, organic matter (weight %) and coarse material (volumetric %) fractions | ≥ 15 % of topsoil volume is coarse material, including rock outcrop, boulder or |
texture class in half or more (cumulatively) of the 100 cm soil surface is sand, loamy sand defined as: Silt % + (2 × clay %) ≤ 30 % or | ||
[X1Topsoil texture class is heavy clay (≥ 60 % clay) or] | ||
| Organic soil (organic matter ≥ 30 %) of at least 40 cm or | ||
| Topsoil contains 30 % or more clay, and there are vertic properties within 100 cm of the soil surface | ||
| Shallow Rooting Depth | Depth (cm) from soil surface to coherent hard rock or hard pan | ≤ 30 cm |
| Poor Chemical Propertiesa | Presence of salts, exchangeable sodium, excessive acidity | Salinity: ≥ 4 deci-Siemens per meter (dS/m) in topsoil or |
| Sodicity: ≥ 6 Exchangeable Sodium Percentage (ESP) in half or more (cumulatively) of the 100 cm soil surface layer or | ||
| Soil Acidity: pH ≤ 5 (in water) in topsoil | ||
| TERRAIN | ||
| Steep Slope | Change of elevation with respect to planimetric distance (%) | ≥ 15 % |
Editorial Information
X1Substituted by Corrigendum to Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 (Official Journal of the European Union L 347 of 20 December 2013).
Textual Amendments
F1Words in Annex 3 substituted (W.) (26.3.2021 in so far as it relates to domestic support for rural development) by The Agricultural Support (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Wales) (EU Exit) Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021/400), regs. 1(2), 7(53)