Glossary:Permanent crops
Permanent crops are all fruit trees, all citrus fruit trees, all nut trees, all berry plantations, all vineyards, all olive trees and all other permanent crops used for human consumption (e.g. tea, coffee or carobs) and for other purposes (e.g. nurseries, Christmas trees or plants for plaiting and weaving such as rattan, or bamboo).
Permanent crops are usually ligneous crops, meaning trees or shrubs, not grown in rotation, but occupying the soil and yielding harvests for several (usually more than five) consecutive years.
Permanent crops are usually intended for human consumption and generally yield a higher added value per hectare than annual crops. They also play an important role in shaping the rural landscape (through orchards, vineyards and olive tree plantations) and helping to balance agriculture within the environment.
Orchards may be of the continuous type with minimum spacing between trees, or of the non-continuous type with wide spacing.
Includes
- Young fruit and berry plantations which are not yet in production can be included from the year they are planted onwards
- Berry plantations are included even if their permanence on the plot is less than 5 years
- Young plantations which are not yet in production from the year of the plantation onwards
- Temporarily abandoned plantations if there is a possibility of reversibility in maximum 5 years
- Rattan
- Bamboo
- Christmas trees planted for commercial purposes outside woodland, on the utilised agricultural area
- Trees originally planted for the production of wood, but systematically harvested annually before they are cut down (e.g. cherry trees, chestnut trees)
Excludes
- Permanent crops which are usually treated as vegetables, ornamental or industrial plants, such as asparagus, roses, decorative shrubs cultivated for their blossom or leaves, strawberries, hops or certain energy crops (Miscanthus spp.) (in the respective headings)
- Areas producing exclusively for own consumption (K0000)
- Fruit trees no longer in production, clearly abandoned for more than 5 years (NUAA)
- Cherry trees or chestnut trees clearly abandoned for more than 5 years, or which are not used for the production of fruit (WA)
- Trees which produce fruit marginally, for example for pigs grazing under the trees (WA)
- Christmas tree plantations which are no longer maintained and belong to wooded area (WA)
- Short-rotation coppices (SRCAA)
