Drought strikes 1.6 million hectares of agricultural crops in Romania

In Romania, there are 1.6 million hectares of drought-stricken agricultural crops, 941,000 of which have already been checked, Agriculture Minister Adrian Oros said Monday at a news conference. "Regarding the reports of damage, from the notifications made by the farmers, there are 1.6 million hectares stricken by drought, of which 941,000 hectares have been verified so far. Of course, the teams ascertaining the size of the damage are working continuously, including on Saturday and Sunday, because we, at the end of May, want to have these reports concluded, and by June 15 to have the summaries by counties, by small towns, by plots, in order to know exactly how to design the compensations," said Oros. He warned farmers and those who are part of the observation teams that in some counties, "the areas recorded as corrupted are approaching or even exceeding the areas reported in autumn as being sown." "I also want warn the farmers, but first and foremost those who are part of the finding commissions, because in some counties the areas recorded as corrupted are approaching or even exceeding the areas reported in autumn as being sown. Probably in the autumn the areas were misreported, or the teams that find and draw the reports don't always do their job. We want to compensate everyone who is affected, but the data against which we are computing and making the compensations must be real data," added Oros. AGERPRES (RO - editor: Mariana Nica; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Rodica State)