There are concerns about the 2022/2023 agricultural season in Moldova. The drought of 2022 is not yet over, while the prices of agricultural inputs and the interest rates on bank loans are expected to remain high. Such conclusions were drawn by the FAO Mission that visited Moldova in October. Based on the collected facts, the specialists recommended providing emergency support for the agricultural sector at least until the next harvest, of 2023. Together with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, FAO will design a response plan that will include direct proposals for solving the crisis, Raimund Jehle, FAO Representative in Moldova, stated when announcing the assessment results, IPN reports.
Raimund Jehle said the Mission presented the findings that underline the gravidity of the impact of the drought, especially on areas planted with crops and on domestic animals. Corn production declined by 60%, while sunflower seed crop was by 26% lower than the crops the last five years. The animal breeding sector should also devoted attention as the fodder is lower in amount. The Mission mentioned the energy crisis, the considerable rise in prices and the reduced availability of fertilizers and phytosanitary products that also generated particular challenges. The cost of bank loans grew following the rise in interest rates that are now rather high for famers.
In response, FAO indicated four recommendations that will aid the farmers, such as direct support in the form of subsidies, contributions for small famers and households dealing with farming in the medium and long terms. Emphasis was placed on growth in the agricultural sector with focus on climate resilience, data availability and analysis. It is recommended encouraging subsequent investments so as to attract young people to agriculture and to facilitate and promote the association and cooperation of framers for fully realizing the potential of agriculture and the agricultural sector in Moldova. “We have about US$3.3 million available thanks to the Austrian Development Agency and to Japan, which we use to support contributions and to purchase fodder for animals. We are making effort to find subsequent resources so as to offer support to the given sector,” stated the FAO official.
Vladimir Bolea, Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry, said this report will help agree the solutions that the central authorities will implement to provide support to farmers in Moldova. The development strategy for 2022-2023 will take into account the new data and details stipulated in the report. “As we became an EU candidate country, we are interested in maximally anchoring the Republic of Moldova in the realities in the European Union. The development strategy should focus on the anchoring of all types of production in Moldova and on the raising to the level of producers in the European Union,” stated the minister.
The official noted that digitization and cooperatives are notions that will be put into practice. Digitization will help create a much more attractive environment for the young people to come and work in agriculture. New subsidization projects will be implemented for farmers in Moldova. The Ministry will intensely promote the importance of associations next year as the farmers in associations obtain better results than those who work independently. The association enables the farmers to be very well informed, to be anchored in realities and to better sell their products.
