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Last week saw a significant increase in the area declared as drought-damaged, with hundreds of thousands of hectares already showing at least 30 percent of their crops burnt. Although the drought caused more devastation two years ago, this year could be the bigger blow for many struggling farmers, writes Világgazdaság.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, farmers nationwide have declared drought damage on just over 300,000 hectares of land as of August 26 this year. The biggest losers are maize and sunflowers – these two crops account for 80 percent of the area declared drought-damaged so far – followed by alfalfa and soybean. While the northern and north-western parts of the country have seen an easing of the situation compared to the previous week, the lack of rainfall has increased in large parts of the Great Plain and southern Transdanubia, leading to a dramatic increase in the number of drought damage areas. in addition, the rainfall on Tuesday did not change this situation.
As farmers have until September 30 to declare their drought losses under the relevant legislation, the final area affected will only be known after that date.
Drought damage has been reported in recent years:
Last year, 80 percent of the drought damage affected maize, sunflower and alfalfa, while in 2022, the year of the century-long drought, 96.6 percent of the area declared drought damaged maize, sunflower and winter wheat. In the previous three years, winter wheat was always affected, while maize “escaped” the drought in 2020.
Based on the current data, it is risked that this year may be the second largest drought in agriculture in the last five years.
As for the calculation of the compensatory allowance, the ministry said that it is not based solely on the area damaged. The main rule for declaring a damage event is that the farmer must declare it and the expected yield loss within 15 days of the occurrence of the event.
However, a positive decision by the government office does not in itself entitle the producer to a compensatory allowance. In the case of a certified agricultural damage event, farmers can submit an application for compensation electronically via the Hungarian State Treasury from November 2 to 30.
Amount paid for drought damage:
Via Világgazdaság; Featured image via Pixabay