News
22.05.2009
Some 23pc of Romania's areas under wheat and rye, damaged
Some 23 percent of Romania's areas under wheat and rye are damaged, Daniel Botanoiu, adviser to the State Secretary with the Ministry of Agriculture, Floristries and Rural Development Catalin Rosculete, told Agerpres on Wednesday.
Botanoiu said that there are more than one million hectares under cereals, out of a total of seven million hectares under seed. Out of the one million hectare, more than 600,000 hectares are 50 percent destroyed and 320,000 hectares more than 50 percent damaged.
Agriculture Minister Ilie Sarbu told the opening on Wednesday of the INDAGRA Food&Drinks international exhibition of food and drink industry equipment and products that he will contact the National Weather Authority to get the necessary documentation so that he may declare the calamity state because of a forecast drought.
He said that the irrigated areas will have no problems, mentioning that in four years since coming to office he managed to have the irrigation system recovered over 500,000 hectares, up from just 60,000 when he became a minister. Nevertheless, the current irrigation system will not suffice to weather drought problems.
If the calamity state is declared, compensations will have to be paid out, and money for such cases should exist with the special intervention fund managed by the Government, Sarbu explained.
'It is sure thing that June has been forecasted as a very dry month,' said Sarbu.
Roumanie.com
