Moldovan farmers call for investment in agriculture to boost competitiveness
Moldovan farmers met with Agriculture Minister Vladimir Bolea on Thursday to discuss the challenges facing the sector. Farmers told Bolea that they could go bankrupt if the government does not ban imports of Ukrainian grain.
They also raised concerns about the lack of investment in agriculture.
"If the government does not ban imports of Ukrainian grain, we will go bankrupt," said one farmer. "We cannot compete with the low prices of Ukrainian grain."
Another farmer said that the lack of investment in agriculture is a major problem. "We need more support from the government," he said. "We need help with irrigation, fertilisers, and other inputs."
Bolea said that the government is working on solutions to help farmers. He said that the government will develop a plan to provide subsidies per hectare. He also said that the government is investing in irrigation systems in Ștefan-Vodă, Briceni, and the Gagauzia Autonomous Territorial Unit.
In August, the government approved a 200 million lei allocation from the reserve fund to help farmers who were affected by the crises of last year. The financial assistance was provided to farmers who planted crops in the first group (wheat, barley, oats). In total, about 3,000 farmers who own land up to 1,500 hectares benefited from the subsidies.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
