For the purpose of the calculation of the shares of different crops as provided for in Article 44(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013, the period to be taken into account shall be the most relevant part of the cultivation period taking account of the traditional cultivation practices in the national context. F1That period may be fixed at national, regional or the appropriate sub-regional level.

F2The relevant authority shall inform farmers of that period in due time. Within the total arable land of the holding, each hectare shall be taken into account only once in one claim year for the purpose of the calculation of the shares of different crops.

For the calculation of the shares of different crops, the area covered by a crop may include landscape features that form part of the eligible area in accordance with Article 9 of Delegated Regulation (EU) No 640/2014.

On an area where mixed cropping is applied by growing simultaneously two or more crops in distinct rows, each crop shall be counted as distinct crop when it covers at least 25 % of that area. The area covered by the distinct crops shall be calculated by dividing the area where the mixed cropping is applied by the number of crops covering at least 25 % of that area, irrespective of the actual share of a crop on that area.

On areas where mixed cropping is applied by growing a main crop which is under-sown with a second crop, the area shall be considered as covered with only the main crop.

Areas on which a seed mixture is sown shall, irrespective of the specific crops included in the mix, be considered as covered with one single crop. Without prejudice to Article 44(4)(d) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013, such single crop shall be referred to as ‘mixed crop’. Where it can be established that the species included in different seed mixtures differ from each other, F3the relevant authority may recognise those different seed mixtures as distinct single crops, provided that those different seed mixtures are not used for the crop referred to in Article 44(4)(d) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013.

F1Areas on which different crops are grown next to each other, where each single crop covers an area that is smaller than the minimum size set by F3the relevant authority referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 72(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013, may be considered by F3the relevant authority as covered with one ‘mixed crop’ as referred to in the third subparagraph of this paragraph.