set-aside scheme

Policy introduced by the European Community (now the European Union) in the late 1980s, as part of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), to reduce overproduction of certain produce. Farmers are paid not to use land but to keep it fallow. The scheme was replaced by the Transfer of Set Aside Scheme in the 1992 reform of the CAP. This version of the scheme was in operation from 1993 to 1999, when it was replaced by the Set Aside Leasing scheme.