Prime Minister Dorin Recean and Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry, Vladimir Bolea, had a discussion today, August 20, with several farmers and representatives of associations of cereal growers, oilseeds, and sugar beet regarding ways to overcome the difficulties faced by the agricultural sector due to drought and extreme temperatures this summer.
During the dialogue, the Prime Minister announced that, within the next two weeks, the Government will allocate 100 million lei from the Agricultural Intervention Fund to compensate the losses suffered by agricultural producers.
The Prime Minister assured that the Government will continue to identify additional resources to support farmers, whether through loss compensation, increased subsidies, or by state guarantees for loans.
Prime Minister Dorin Recean also emphasized the importance of finding long-term solutions for the sustainable development of the agricultural sector.
“Climate change forces us to adapt to the new situation, to implement new technologies, to irrigate, to shift from growing cereals to high-value-added products. We need to act with foresight and long-term, as the problem repeats itself every year and we can only solve it together,” said the Prime Minister.
During the discussions between farmers and officials, other proposals aimed at supporting agricultural entrepreneurs were also addressed. These included: facilitating access to affordable financing, introducing a single tax in agriculture, adjusting diesel fuel excise duties, subsidizing new crops and yield per hectare, as well as expanding the afforestation program.
Additionally, the Prime Minister discussed existing tools that can be used to support the farmers most affected by drought, highlighting the importance of quickly implementing these measures to mitigate the impact of extreme weather conditions on agricultural production.
“We facilitated the obtaining of the force majeure certificate for each individual farmer. A state of emergency in agriculture does not help but rather endangers the next agricultural year,” mentioned the head of the Executive.
According to data provided by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, so far, 2,428 loss assessment reports have been prepared due to unfavorable climatic conditions across all regions of the country. These losses affect a total area of 97 thousand hectares of agricultural crops, with corn being the most affected crop.