Crops on about 36,000 hectares of farmland, or 2% of the total, have been damaged by rains and hail, Agriculture Minister Valeriu Cosarciuc told a Government meeting on Monday, Info-Prim Neo reports. In the districts of Hancesti, Briceni and Ungheni, floods damaged 5,000 hectares. Because of the greater than average rainfall, harvest rates are low, in particular for peas (40%), autumn barley (35%) and wheat (4.2%). Yet the harvesting of rape is almost completed. “We hope it'll stop raining and the situation will improve”, said Valeriu Cosarciuc. The minister said that easier certification procedures at the customs would be greatly helpful to the farmers in this situation. Another stimulus would be investment in their technical upgrade so that Moldovan farmers could become competitive externally.