Government plans to double areas protected by antihail system by yearend 2008

The Government intends to double the fields protected by the antihail system by the end of 2008. The central authorities say that about 1 mln hectares of land are protected from hail at present. According to Prime Minister Vasile Tarlev, the farmers would have lost by about 50% more of the already low 2007 harvest if the antihail system had not worked this year. Minister of Local Public Administration Valentin Guznac says that to extend the areas protected from antihail, the consultations with the local public authorities should be stepped up because the protection of the fields is one of their main responsibilities. Guznac said that during the past five years the local authorities made attempts to convince the economic entities to extend the protected areas. A method of insuring the lands was proposed in 2002 - the state and economic entities should allocate by 10 lei per hectare. But it did not have continuity. In 2003 – 2004, it was tried to create district insurance funds, but only several economic agents and district heads took the necessary steps. The minister says that the best mechanism would be to insure the lands through insurance companies, method broadly used in most of the countries of the world. Yet, the insurance companies now sign contracts covering only the fields that are protected by the antihail system. Premier Vasile Tarlev ordered the immediate drafting of a plan of measures to encourage the extension of the areas protected from hail.