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Romania Readies Extra RON100M For Irrigation To Fight Drought

The Romanian government is prepared to allocate additional 100 million lei (EUR1=RON4.1830) to the Agriculture Ministry’s budget to cover irrigation costs over summer, which meteorologists warned might be extremely dry.
Romania Readies Extra RON100M For Irrigation To Fight Drought
27 mai 2009, 15:51, English

According to a government document obtained by MEDIAFAX on Wednesday, measures to fight drought include expanding the surface of irrigated farmland by 200,000 hectares, pushing back the deadline for water consumption payments and granting subsidies in agriculture.
 
The authorities in Bucharest are prepared to allocate RON470 million for irrigations in 2010, as irrigated farmland is seen at one million hectares in 2010 from 750,000 million hectares this year, the quoted document noted.
 
“This effort can be written off from the value added tax and the tax on income worth some RON847 million which is cashed in to the budget through the production bonus following irrigations,” it said.
 
Romanian Agriculture Minister Ilie Sarbu is expected to present the government on Wednesday with an emergency strategy in agriculture that stipulates extended irrigated areas, following drought forecasts.
 
Last week, Sarbu said frost and drought damaged over one million hectares of crop out of total seven million hectares cultivated in the fall and spring.
Romania might declare a state of calamity in agriculture, Sarbu said.
 
On Monday, President Traian Basescu said he warned the PD-L parliamentary groups, part of the ruling coalition, the potential drought may overlap the economic crisis, and frowned on the politicians little interest in this issue.
 
"They probably wait to see the land cracking on the TV, in order to get amazed," Basescu added.
 
Basescu said the irrigation installations must be set up and decentralization projects should be enforced.