BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's agriculture minister described as "absurd" the European Commission's proposals to keep 7 percent of EU farmland fallow for environmental reasons and she urged it to reconsider.
The scheme to compel the land to be taken out of production, a process known as greening, is part of a proposed reform of the European Union's huge farm support program, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
The Commission has proposed payments to farmers linked to the adoption of measures that offer environmental benefits. These include maintaining an "ecological focus area" where crops would not be grown.
