Extreme drought threatens crops in several parts of Romania, where rainfall is scarce, the Romanian newspaper “Adeverul“ writes in its article on the subject. In one of the country's largest counties - Dolj, irrigation systems have been suspended for more than two weeks due to extremely low water levels in the Danube. Over 55,000 hectares of agricultural land cannot be irrigated, the media outlet notes, BTA reported.
“This means pure poverty“, locals complain, and farmers claim that some crops can no longer be saved, even if it rains.
“Those who used to water with motor pumps can no longer do so because gasoline is expensive. It is a tragedy. At least 90 percent of the corn crop has been destroyed. Some are already leaving to work in Spain to get their money back“, they say.
Farmers in Iași county are also desperate, Digi24 reports. Their sunflower crops are being attacked by crows, and no method of repelling them seems to be working.
“There are areas of the fields where almost a quarter of the harvest has already been destroyed. With each passing day, the yield is decreasing even more“, the affected people commented on the air.
Against this background, the National Administration “Romanian Waters“ warns that in early August the flow of the Danube River will be three times lower than the multi-year average, approaching the historical levels of 1985. For this reason, restrictions on water use, in particular for irrigation, remain in force for the Calarasi-Cherna Voda section.
“Severe drought conditions prevail throughout the Danube River catchment area, with no signs of improvement. In addition, the First Reactor of the “Cherna Voda“ Nuclear Power Plant has been switched off as an additional measure to maintain the operation of the Second Reactor. We are currently facing a severe drought in the entire Danube basin and there are no indications that the situation will improve in the near future,“ the National Administration “Romanian Waters“ noted.
The most vulnerable areas are the regions of Crisana, Oltenia, Muntenia, Dobrudja and Moldova.