Romanians should brace themselves for another period of drought during July and August, according to the country's Agriculture Ministry, which warned farmers they should use irrigation systems in order to minimize their losses. “This year, on wheat and rape seed crops we'll be fine. But I would like to ring the alarm bells, let's not be enthusiastic we've had rain and we will have tomorrow too, we have to prepare for the drought in July and August. The Agriculture Ministry will take all measures to make life easier for farmers who will use irrigation,” said Daniel Constantin, Agriculture Minister. The minister asked farmers to use the existing irrigation system 'as it is.'

During last year's drought, many in Romania complained of the lack of extensive irrigation systems in the country and of the lack of involvement from authorities on expanding these networks.

Lats year, drought affected as much as 40 percent of Romania's crops, or some 3.7 million hectares of land.

Around of the third of the wheat planted in the autumn of 2011 suffered from lack of water, while a third of spring crops were also affected. Corn was the most affected by drought – 81 percent of the crops, followed by sunflower, 45 percent.

Most affected following the drought are individuals who owns small farms in the countryside, and use the crops for their own consumption, according to the Ministry. Around 1.2 million hectares from the total affected by the bad weather belong to small farmers- around half a million people. Some other 35,000 farmers own farms of over ten hectares. In total, 1.1 million farmers are registered in the Agricultural Payments Agency (APIA). The drought was estimated to cause a loss of some EUR 800 million last year and to have pushed up inflation and negatively affected the country's GDP.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Photoxpress.com)