The drought compromises this year’s harvest and farmers risk going bankrupt if the state does not provide subsidies, said the executive director of the Association “Force of Farmers” Alexandru Slusari. According to him, most of the districts were hit by a severe drought that is much more serious than that of 2020. The farmers invest huge sums in cultivation, but the harvest affected by drought will not enable them to cover the costs. For their part, representatives of the government said that the subsidization fund was raised this year so that the farmers could benefit from state support, IPN reports.
Alexandru Slusari said the shortage of precipitation this year will seriously affect the farmers. The high prices of gasoline and diesel fuel and the changing weather conditions turn agriculture into a fully non-profitable sector.
“We have severe drought in most of the districts. The impact of this drought can be more serious for farmers than in 2020, when crops of the first and second groups were affected. In 2020, the costs were relatively small. The diesel fuel wasn’t so expensive. The fertilizers weren’t so expensive and the prices at which the remaining harvest was sold covered the costs. In two years, we have almost the same or lower prices, but the costs trebled. The effects of this drought can be much more severe for the Republic of Moldova. The harvest will be low, under the annual average, but it will be enough to ensure food security. The subsidization fund now does not contain support in case of drought,” Alexandru Slusari stated in the talk show “Freedom with Dorin Galben” on TV8 channel.
The head of the Parliament’s commission on agriculture and food industry Vladimir Bolea said farming in Moldova should be modernized so that the country does not export raw material to import finished products at much higher prices.
“We do not eat wheat and corn. We eat bread, pasta, biscuits. Regrettably, the processing system has been fully destroyed during 30 years. That’s why we need to switch over to small-scale industrialization as we now import food. Given the drought, we should first stop selling the merchandise. The subsidization fund consists of 1.65 billion lei and this money is intended for all aspects related to agriculture,” stated PAS MP Vladimir Bolea.
Under a decision that was recently approved by the Government, the micro, small and medium-scale farmers will benefit from a full refund of the excise tax paid on diesel fuel used so far this year, of 2,980 lei per tonne. The large agricultural enterprises will receive subsidies equal to 30% or 894 lei per tonne.
