East Midlands Development Agency (emda) has today announced that there is more flexibility in how it can allocate funds through the region's Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) to help farmers, foresters and horticulturalists beat the recession.

This comes as a result of confirmation just received by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) that emda - which manages the RDPE in the East Midlands - can award funding above the current state aid threshold levels. 

Applicants can now apply for up to €500,000 (approx £450,000*) per project, which is more than double the amount previously allowed under European Commission rules.  Farmers looking to diversify into non-agricultural activities are also able to benefit, with the relaxing of the 50% match-funding grant requirement where the need for increased financial support can be clearly justified.

The initial commitment to make more money available through RDPE across the nine English regions was announced earlier this month by Hillary Benn, Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. 

Speaking about today's announcement, Andrew Morgan, emda's Skills and Communities Director, said: "We welcome the swift decision taken by Defra to support our region's land-based businesses.  These changes will enable us to use RDPE funds to help alleviate the effects of the recession on rural businesses and help them prepare for the future."

RDPE is jointly funded by the European Union (EU) and Defra.  emda has approximately £60m available for projects in the region until 2013.  The purpose of RDPE grants is to stimulate the rural economy of the East Midlands and provide more opportunities and an improved quality of life for rural people in the region. 

Since the launch of the current RDPE in January 2008, 26 projects have received funding, worth over £4m.  People and businesses that have RDPE grant applications currently being assessed by emda will be notified directly of these changes. 

To find out more about RDPE and how to apply, visit www.emda.org.uk/rdpe .