The amount of compensation for farmers whose plantations suffered from the April frosts will be set in about 1.5 months.

The amount of compensation for farmers whose plantations suffered from the April frosts will be set in about 1.5 months.

17.05.2017

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Iurie Usurelu stated this at a press conference on May 12. He noted that it would be possible to talk about the sizes and forms of compensation (from direct payments to the provision of equipment) only after receiving and analyzing the information about all plantations and all types of crops, and in view of the fact that some fruits (apples, peaches, etc.) mature later than others, the full picture can only be understood in the first or second half of June. Iurie Usurelu stressed that the agency does not want a repetition of the situation in 2014, when a loan was taken from the World Bank to pay compensation to farmers because of Russia's embargo on Moldovan products, however, the compensation was paid not only to those who actually suffered, but also to those whom this situation did not affect at all. Therefore, now a thorough check of the incoming information will be carried out. According to the information received from 29 district councils, the most part of the damage fell on Cantemir, Cahul, Causeni, Calarasi, Ungheni, Taraclia districts and Gagauzia. According to the first results received from the district councils, the total affected area is 34.5 thousand hectares. It has been damaged from 5% to 100% of the plantation area: vegetables - 112.4 thousand hectares; field crops – 19.4 thousand hectares; perennial crops and vineyards - 14.9 thousand hectares. Also there have been affected 28.3 thousand square meters of hothouses, 105 sq. m. of granaries. Most affected is the crop of plums and nuts. However, the information on fruits will be obtained only in the first or in the second half of June, when the situation with fruits will be clear. Iurie Usurelu said that during the visits to the agricultural areas carried out by the experts from the Ministry of Agriculture, the Agrarian University and other specialists, it was revealed that some information about the damage caused is inaccurate and the damage level is not as large as it was stated. In particular, according to the reports received by the Ministry of Agriculture, the seed crop (sunflower, corn) suffered 100%, and in fact - only 5-10% only because the farmers planted them ahead of time. The way to punish farmers who provide untrue information is not yet approved and will be considered later. In this regard, Iurie Ususrelu stated that already next week, representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and AIPA will start the trips to the plantations to check the incoming information and assess the damage. The trips will be divided into stages according to the categories of the harvest. First of all, the plantations of cherries and sour cherries will be checked, then apricots, peaches, apples, plums, etc.

12.05.2017 - InfoMarket