Agriculture ministers of Moldova, Romania identify solutions to problems of farmers from both countries

Chisinau, 3 September /MOLDPRES/ ,- Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Affairs and European Integration Minister Vladimir Bolea, during a working visit to Romania, has had a meeting with his Romanian counterpart, Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Florin Barbu. The meeting took place in the context of the challenges faced by the farmers from both countries, caused by drought and other natural calamities and were aimed at identifying efficient solutions to support them.     

In the context, Vladimir Bolea proposed to create a joint programme with Romania for the implementation and modernization of the irrigation infrastructure of Moldova - an important project for ensuring a sustainable agricultural production, in the context of the climate changes. At the discussions, the officials tackled also the subject on the support which Romania can provide to Moldova as regards the delivery of diesel and seeds material for the winter and spring crops. The request comes in the context of the need to ensure the continuity of the agricultural activities in the best conditions, despite the difficulties triggered by the drought.     

Another important subject was the development of a Register of Farmers of Moldova, in electronic format, which is to facilitate the management and monitoring of the agricultural activities. The sides agreed on the development of this project with the relevant institutions of both countries, including the Information Technology and Cyber Security Service of Moldova and the Special Telecommunications Service of Romania.   

As for the irrigation with underground water, the ministers agreed to closely cooperate for the implementation of the best practices in this sector. In this respect, a visit to Iasi, Romania, by Moldovan specialists will be organized, in order to take knowledge of the solutions of irrigation used there. Deputy PM Vladimir Bolea expressed interest in the model of the Romanian House of Agro-Food Commerce and proposed the taking over of this experience, in order to extend this concept in Moldova as well, so as to facilitate the access of Moldovan producers to the European market.    

In Moldova, the extreme climate phenomena compromised the crops founded in the spring of the 20214 year, especially the maize and sunflower and the Moldovan farmers submitted applications on the ascertaining of damages triggered by the soil  drought, in order to get compensations for damages. To this end, the Moldovan government will allocate 100 million lei, in order to compensate the farmers’ losses.   

Also, large areas from Romania were seriously hit by the severe drought from the spring and summer of this year, which led to considerable losses of incomes for agricultural producers, endangering the economic viability of the farms and the country’s food security. Romania is also in need of emergency measures of providing compensations to farmers; yet, the status of European country ensures the context to make direct requests at the European Commission.