Flooded fields near Nitra (source: TASR)
Flooded rivers in some places in Slovakia have damaged crops. Farmers who live close to rivers are now counting their losses.
The situation is especially unfavourable around the Hron basin. From Monday to Tuesday, the Slovenská Ľupča area experienced 73 millimetres of precipitation, which is half of the total for May. The Hron flooded arable soil in several places.
“We have 27 hectares of corn which have been absolutely destroyed,” said Igor Nemčok, chair of agriculture cooperative Hron Slovenská Ľupča, as quoted by the SITA newswire. “From the overall area of corn, we lost 22 percent, which would be 1,350 tonnes of corn silage €44,000 in value.”
They have also lost grain and pea plants in other fields, totalling €66,000 in damage, Nemčok added.
Farmers from Badín in the Banská Bystrica district are dealing with flooded rye and lucerne fields, which were supposed to be mowed during this time of year. As the plants will remain underwater for the next few days, they will decrease in quality, and thus the quality of the animal feed itself will be reduced.
“Today, we know that because of flooded growth, we will have to give animals different feed, which will make breeding more expensive,” added the chair of the agriculture cooperative Badín Mojmír Haško, as quoted by SITA.
Insure crops more, insurance company appeals
Growers in the Levice district, especially near Želiezovce, are also suffering the consequences of local flooding. Exact losses are not determined until the water recedes. These days, farmers in the most affected areas report individual damages to insurance companies.
Insurance companies urge them to insure more of their crops because the state will reimburse them for part of the premium. "Today, we received dozens of reports from farmers about the current rainfall. We start with individual inspections in the field. We recommend growers report the damage to us as soon as possible," appealed the director of Agra Poisťovna Dalibor Bán, as quoted by SITA.
Due to weather fluctuations, the Slovak Agriculture and Food Chamber will start monitoring all the damage to this year's harvest this week. It, therefore, calls on farmers to report to it all crop losses experienced throughout the year resulting from spring ground frosts and flooded rivers.
