From this year on, the government will extend the agricultural irrigation season when farmers can access irrigation water at favourable prices, the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs of the Ministry of Agriculture on Friday in Fábiánsebestyén, Csongrád County.

At the press conference on the government decision concerned, Sándor Farkas said the irrigation period will last from 1 March 2019 to 31 October 2019 instead of the previous 15 April to 30 September, in line with the climate change and the needs of farmers.

He added that, in the irrigation period, the state assumes 70 percent of the basic fee, and farmer must remunerate the remaining 30 percent only. The current amendment extends the period when farmers can have irrigation water at favourable prices by two-and-a-half months, he said.

On the initiative of the Ministry of Agriculture, in the current excessive drought, the Ministry of Interior responsible for water management announces the start of the persistent water shortage period on 1 April, Mr Farkas announced. Consequently, from that date on, farmers do not have to pay water resource fee on the quantity of water used for irrigation, fish farming or rice cultivation, he said, adding that the amount of the water resource fee was reduced by 20 percent in connection with water abstraction in the past two weeks. He underlined that the above make things much easier for agricultural producers in the current critical water shortage period and strengthens the government measures taken so far to improve the domestic conditions of irrigation.

Mr Farkas spoke also of the statistics of the National Meteorological Service showing that the amount of winter precipitation this year fell short of the average of the previous years by 26 percent. In February 2019 specifically only 40 percent of the expected precipitation amount fell, he reported.

Since August last year, there was practically no significant precipitation on a major part of the Great Plain, he added.

Because of the changing climate conditions, drought has become increasingly frequent at the end of the winter and in early spring, and that is highly unfavourable for agriculture. Persistent water shortage influences the life processes of plants, their development, crop production decelerates and if that persists for a longer time it causes irreversible damage in plants, he informed the audience. Drought this year has caused significant harm in rape, arable winter cereals and fodder plants, he indicated.

It has never happened in the past forty years that the Great Pain had to be irrigated in this period of the year; the irrigation period normally starts in mid-April/May, but the real irrigation period takes place in the summer, he said.

(AM Press Office)