ENVIRONMENT-ROMANIA: Heat Wave Leaves Crisis Behind

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Marian Chiriac

BUCHAREST, Aug 29 2003 (IPS) - Bulgaria and Romania are facing a trade and energy crisis following a heat wave described by experts as the worst in 150 years.

The heat and fires have devastated agriculture. Authorities say they can still not assess the extent of damage.

Most estimates suggest that the harvest this year is likely to be half of normal produce. The agriculture ministry says wheat output would fall to about 3.5 million tonnes from the six million tonnes predicted previously.

"Excessively high temperatures badly hit the crop," says Vasile Stancu from the ministry. "Our estimate means that we’ll have the lowest wheat crop in 50 years."

The drought has worsened the situation for farmers already plagued by lack of purchasing power for seeds, fertilisers and herbicides.

Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Nastase said last week the government has earmarked 27 million dollars (880 billion lei) to pay out insurance claims to drought-stricken farmers. The government will also subsidise wheat seeds for next year’s crop and grant other aid to small farmers. Nastase also announced that nine million dollars will be spent on repairing the irrigation network.

"The money is welcome but it is not enough," says farmer Nelu Banta in Maneciu, some 100 km from Bucharest. "We need tractors, good seeds and fertilisers, but do not have money for them. Our principal aim now is just survival."

In neighbouring Bulgaria, the government temporarily banned export of wheat and flour. Agriculture Minister Mehmed Dikme said Thursday that Bulgaria plans instead to import 100,000 tonnes of wheat. An extra ten million dollars ill be allotted for the autumn sowing.

Wheat prices in Bulgaria have meanwhile been rising for the last couple of months, leading to an increase in the price of bread.

Some of the effects of the continuing drought are only now beginning to tell. Days with highs ranging from 35 to 40 degrees Celsius since early June led also to a dramatic fall in the level of the Danube River. This hit traffic on the river and forced closure of Romania’s sole nuclear plant.

The crisis with the Danube is making the agricultural crisis worse. Traffic on the Danube is virtually paralysed. "We are in danger of losing important quantities of perishable goods which are transiting through Romanian ports," says Nicolae Tutuianu, manager of Shipowners and Traders Association.

The losses of perishable goods could run into millions of dollars, he says. The effect would be "comparable to the damage caused following the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) attack against Serbia when traffic on the Danube was blocked for years."

The drought is also affecting the Danube Delta, Europe’s richest wetland. "About ten percent of the delta’s surface that is usually covered by water has become dry land, while about 40 percent of the delta water has evaporated," says Virgil Munteanu, Governor of the Danube Delta Reservation in Romania.

Wildfires ravaged dried-up wetlands earlier in the summer. Some 600 hectares of reed went up in smoke near Grindul Rosu in the eastern part of the delta bordering the Black Sea. The fauna and flora in the area are a part of the World Heritage list of the United Nations Scientific Educational and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

One analyst blames local government for failing to cope with the crisis. "The sweltering temperatures, drought, and resulting fires have caused widespread misery and economic loss but they have also exposed shortfalls in crisis management and fire prevention," says economist Ilie Serbanescu.

Serbanescu says the crisis has resulted partly from outdated systems. "This calamitous situation has cast light on ineffective agriculture and energy systems, which continues to produce losses due to the delay in decentralisation and privatisation."