Northern Ireland Executive Rural Development Minister Michelle Gildernew has announced that the new Agricultural and Forestry Processing and Marketing Grant (PMG) Scheme is now open for applications.

The new PMG scheme, worth £21.5m, forms part of the Rural Development Programme. The announcement was made during a visit to projects in County Armagh that have received previous PMG support.

"I am pleased to announce the new £21.5m PMG Scheme today," the Minister said. "The scheme will assist economic growth and improve the competitiveness of the agriculture, horticulture and forestry sectors. It provides new opportunities to build a more sustainable rural economy, improve the quality of local life and reduce poverty.

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"The new scheme will be available to a wide range of small to intermediate sized businesses who are either involved or wishing to become involved in the processing and marketing of agricultural, horticultural or forestry products. This includes processors, groups of producers and individual producers."

The PMG scheme also provides support towards capital investment including the construction of new buildings, the refurbishment of old buildings and the purchase of new equipment for the processing of primary products.

The Minister made the announcement during a visit to Hughes Mushrooms who were awarded over £110,000 from the previous PMG scheme. Established in 1965 Hughes Mushrooms is one of Ireland’s most successful mushroom marketing companies.

The money helped to finance the development of their facilities and the equipment required to process mushrooms including the provision of a new cutting area for slicing mushrooms, a new chill room, an extension to the packing and storage area and wrapping and labelling equipment.

(JM)