Compensations and Irrigations

Authorities are assessing the extent of the damage caused by the prolonged drought this season. Farmers hope they will be compensated for their losses this very year.

Valentin Țigău, 26.08.2015, 12:59

Local authorities in counties affected by the drought are assessing the extent of the damage. Special committees have been set up, charged with drawing up an inventory of fields where crops have been compromised. A list of loss-reporting farming companies and individual farmers will be subsequently submitted to the Government. According to initial estimates, the most affected regions are in the north-east, while corn crops are currently the most affected.

Laurentiu Baciu, the head of the League of Farmers’ Associations told Radio Romania that that situation might trigger a hike in produce prices over the next period. On the other hand, the Government hopes to get the European Commission offset part of the losses reported by the Romanian agricultural sector. Agriculture Minister Daniel Constantin promised all farmers affected by the drought would be compensated after an accurate assessment of the damage has been completed. Daniel Constantin:

“We are negotiating with the European Commission to compensate farmers starting this very year, within a reasonable amount that should help them continue their farming activities”.

The severe drought is not the only underlying cause of the disaster in Romanian agriculture. Another contributing factor is the irrigation system, dating back to the communist period, which covers only 10% of Romania’s farmland, tantamount to 300 thousand hectares, as compared to the 3.3 million hectares prior to 1989. The rehabilitation costs for the national irrigation system are estimated at nearly 1 billion euros. Here is Minister Daniel Constantin again.

“We will make sure to use European funds to encourage more farmers to get irrigation facilities without which they cannot use the water, although their fields have access to water”.

Minister Constantin suggested that including Romania in the so-called “Juncker Plan” might help our country rehabilitate its irrigation system using European Funds. The Juncker Plan is a public investment programme earmarking over 300 billion euros worth of structural funds to Member States. Moreover, the Romanian official did not rule out a political agreement among parliamentary parties, which can result in a law for the rehabilitation of the irrigation system over the next five years.