PHOTO// Farmers in drought-hit districts started to receive free fall wheat seeds

Chisinau, Oct 25 /MOLDPRES/- Over 400 tons of autumn wheat seeds, provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) at the request of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry (MAIA) are reaching this week 175 farmers from drought-hit districts including Stefan Voda, Comrat, Ceadir-Lunga, Vulcanesti, Cantemir, Cahul, Taraclia, Floresti, Nisporeni and Telenesti.

Funded by the Austrian Development Agency and the Swiss Government, the project Emergency support for agricultural producers in the context of socio-economic and energy crisis provides high-quality seeds resistant to drought, disease and extreme temperatures to help farmers recover from the losses they have suffered.

Present at the seed distribution event was Vasile Șarban, MAIA State Secretary, who emphasized the importance of this aid, noting that this initiative is part of a wider effort to support national agriculture.

The quantities distributed vary between 30 and 90 kg per hectare, depending on the severity of the losses suffered, and each farmer can receive up to 8 tons of seed.

This initiative complements other FAO interventions, carried out in partnership with MAIA, supported by the Government of Japan, Austria and Switzerland. Since 2022, essential agricultural inputs such as maize seed, fertilizers, alfalfa seed, vegetable seed, potato tubers and animal fodder have been distributed to farmers across the country. The emergency support program, which will continue until December 2024, benefits about 17,000 farmers and households.