Agriculture

Matecna Offering Farmers Systemic Solution in Combatting Droughts

Bratislava, July 25 (TASR) – The Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry has launched a call for proposals worth €22 million in total aimed at building, reconstructing and modernising irrigation systems, stated Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Gabriela Matecna (Slovak National Party/SNS) at a press conference on Wednesday.

The minister added that this measure should help farmers to address the issue of extreme droughts in a systemic way.

Matecna went on to say that extremely dry weather this year has mainly affected cereals. However, the damage in this case can not be resolved by one-off measures, as systemic measures are needed. Many irrigation facilities in Slovakia are now old and need reconstruction, she added.

The ministry has thus come up with a call to modernise the irrigation system and thereby “motivate farmers to prevent such damage systemically and permanently”.

The allocated €22 million comes from the EU funded 2014-2020 Rural Development Programme. As much as €20 million will go to less developed areas in Slovakia while the remaining €2 million will go to Bratislava region, stated Matecna.

The deadline for submitting applications is November 15.

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