The recent rain for farmers was like a breath of fresh air for a person who is unable to breathe, but the precipitation was insufficient to ensure a good harvest in 2021. If there is no more precipitation and those reserves of productive moisture are not restored in soil, to a depth of 2 meters, we risk facing a new hydrological drought next year.

Contacted by IPN for details, Vasile Șarban, head of the Ministry of Agriculture’s Production and Processing Policy and Vegetal Products Quality Regulation Division, said that regrettably, there are yet localities where no rain fell in the recent past. Where there was heavy precipitation, the soil can be cultivated for sowing or the accumulated moisture favored the uniform sprouting of seeds that had been already sowed.

However, as the specialist said, more rain is expected this autumn and snow is expected in winter, with a sufficient layer of snow of at up to 60 centimeters. This snow will gradually melt and will enter the soil, compensating thus for the shortage of humidity in soil.

As to the losses sustained by farmers who grew second group grain crops, Vasile Șarban said the assessments were carried out by the local public authorities of the first and second levels. The Ministry of Agriculture determined that about 514,000 hectares were affected. Of these, the cornfields represent 51%, sunflower fields - 45%, soybean fields – 2%, sugar beet fields –1%. The other crops, such as peas, beans and tobacco, were less than 1% affected. The authorities are having discussions with the farmers affected by drought so as to identify support mechanisms.