Agriculture takes a hit from bad weather

Newsroom 06/05/2014 | 11:48

Recent heavy rains ruined farmers’ scheduled business for this year. Part of the grain production is compromised, as well as part of the production of vegetables in greenhouses, according to farmers’ representatives.

Dragos Frumosu, president of Sindalimenta, says that in the case of grains, about 10 percent of the farmland was compromised, while in the case of vegetables cultivated in greenhouses, up to 5 percent were affected by the recent hail.

“What is really serious is that the area around Bucharest was the most affected”, Frumosu said, quoted by hotnews.ro.

The worst hit are the rape crops, according to the same source. If domestic production will not be able to cover the country’s consumption needs, then the difference will have to be made up through imports, which in turn will lead to price increases.

Farmers in Ialomita county on the other hand rejoiced at the weather, given that the fields in their area were particularly dry.

As for weather prognosis in the coming weeks, the national Weather Administration (ANM) says that May will present normal levels for precipitation, but in the western, central and eastern regions of the country there will be a tendency for excess rain. In June, rainfall will be close to average values (89.2 l/sqm) in central and northern Romania, while in the rest of the country there will be less than average rain.