Six anti-hail rocket units have been set up in Orhei district this year. One of them, located in Trebujeni village, was visited by acting Agriculture Minister Vasile Bumacov on May 28, IPN reports.

The official said that owing to the six new units, the areas protected against hail were extended by about 87,000 hectares, from 1.4 million hectares earlier. A rocket launched in case of hail protects about 13,000 hectares of crops. This year, the Agriculture Ministry invested about 74 million lei in the anti-hail system.

Vasile Bumacov underlined that the beneficial effects of the recent rain exceeded the damage caused by hail in some of the regions of the country thousands of times.

Antihail Service head Ion Garaba said the rockets are assembled at a plant in Cornesti village of Ungheni district. Three to twelve rockets must be launched in order to protect the crops from hail. The launching of rockets in the border area is banned. The best system for protecting the crops against hail is the anti-hail net, but it cannot be placed over corn and wheat.

The Antihail Service prepared over 6,000 rockets for this year. Almost 2,000 of them have been used. There are 115 anti-hail rocket units on Moldova’s territory.