Possible to grow field crops in flood-hit areas

BELGRADE - The first results of soil tests show that it will be possible to grow field crops in the areas affected by the recent severe floods, but as for vegetables the situation is still uncertain, Head of the Plant Protection Directorate Ferenc Bagi said on Wednesday.

"500 soil samples were collected, we got results and the taskforce is considering them. The first results are favorable and we hope this will be the case with the next ones too. It will be possible to grow field crops on this arable land, but the working group is yet to analyze the situation with the vegetables," Bagi told reporters after a conference titled "Initiative for Safe and Sustainable Use of Pesticide".

Vegetables fall into the plant categories that can accumulate heavy metals, if there are any in the soil. Having this in mind, we should analyze the results and give proper recommendations, he explained.

"If the decision is made that new production is possible in these areas, then regular protection measures will be taken. We will consider the possibility of introducing the monitoring of these products, so as to be on full alert for the presence of heavy metals in them," he underscored.

Bagi said that the ministry of agriculture set up the working group and tasked it with analyzing the samples from the areas from which water retreated following the severe floods in mid-May.

The analyses are aimed at assessing whether it will be safe to establish new production on these parcels, depending on whether the samples contain chemical contaminants, primarily heavy metals.

Photo Tanjug, J. Pap (archive, illustration)