Great flooding in Poland
The preliminary scale of flood damage to agriculture is known. The flood has affected 120,000 hectares of agricultural plots (more than 2% of all agricultural land in Poland), and 27,000 hectares have not been harvested this year.
The Polish Ministry of Agriculture has announced aid to farmers. The support paid to farmers will amount to about 5,000 PLN (€ 1 200) per hectare with unharvested crops. This mainly applies to crops of corn, soybeans, potatoes, or sugar beets. With 27 000 hectares with unharvested crops, this amounts to 135 million PLN (€ 31.4 million).
Support for farmers will also include the cancellation of rents for farmland and compensation for crops that have come into contact with flood waters.
Deputy Agriculture Minister Adam Nowak further reported that, according to the ARMA (Agency for Restructuring and Modernization of Agriculture), 4318 farmers have been affected by the floods. He added that 3,360 agricultural producers reported losses of more than 30 % of production on at least one plot.
The agriculture ministry, the deputy minister said, is also working on creating a program related to, for example, the reclamation and liming of agricultural land.
Source: MRiRW, Business Insider