It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good, the saying goes. That’s true for Romanian garlic farmers who are in line for subsidies from the government to offset losses from the Russian-Ukrainian war.
The Agriculture Ministry said it will allocate more than 4 million euros this year for partial compensation crop losses from autumn 2023 to spring 2024, caused by the crisis generated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The total amount of state aid is 20.86 million lei, the equivalent of 4.23 million euros, and the maximum amount of aid is 1,500 euros/ha.
Beneficiaries need to submit applications by midnight on April 19, 2024.
Payment will be made up until the end of June 2024, following on-site inspections made by agriculture experts.
If the total claims exceed the total grant, then beneficiaries will receive proportionately less.
„By establishing the state aid scheme, a financial grant will be provided to agricultural producers operating in the field of primary production of agricultural products, in order to partially compensate the losses in the garlic crop established in autumn 2023 – spring 2024, in the context of the crisis caused by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine,” a press release sent to AGERPRES said.
Garlic is popular in Romania with 2.2 kg consumed per head in 2019-2020. That rose to 2.5 kg / per inhabitant in 2o021.
