LONDON, May 20 (UPI) -- English farmers could lose subsidies next year unless they agree to make environmental improvements to their land, under a sustainability plan being mulled.
The European Commission is set to announce an end to the so-called set-aside payment scheme by which farmers were paid to leave about 8 percent of their fields fallow, The Times of London reported Tuesday.
Intended originally to prevent grain surpluses in Europe, the subsidies are unneeded given the worldwide shortage of grain driven by demand from China and India, critics say.
The payments were temporarily suspended this year, but the European Union has ruled that this should be permanent, the newspaper reported.
Farmers will continue receiving payments from the European Union so long make environmental improvements to between 3 percent and 5 percent of their land.
Measures include keeping crops next to water sources and keeping canals and streams free from pesticide sprays, The Times said.
The British Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs found that about half of the 900,000 acres of previously unploughed land in England are already in production this year.
