Alexander Alexandrov grows 6,000 acres of various grain crops in the Vidin town of Dimovo. Last year, part of his production was destroyed by hail. “There was 100% damage to rapeseed. Rapeseed is very vulnerable to hail from the point of view of the fact that it deteriorates very quickly and the loss was 100% then“, he says, quoted by Nova TV.
In order to avoid 100 percent damage, part of the farmers' payments to the state will be set aside for the formation of a mutual aid fund. “Which fund should compensate or perhaps help in some percentage of the victims of various types of damage, and I don't mean only urban areas, here we also include animal epidemics, fires“, pointed out Aleksandrov.
The farmer also talks about another possibility for protecting the areas. “This year, the state increased the intensity of insuring agricultural areas to 70%, which is a significant breath of air for farmers and to stimulate them to insure their areas“, he explained.
And he necessarily insulates his agricultural crops every year. “This year, including, I will do it, but here there is a slight delay due to the fact that the insurers, in order to insure certain areas, want to see them available on the ground. We currently only have wheat, the sowing of spring crops in our region has not yet begun, and since we already have crops on the ground, then we will insure 100% of the areas“, said the agricultural producer.
Therefore, according to him, farmers should think about the damage before it occurs. “You see that climate change is a fact, we are witnessing very strong storms, droughts, but ultimately we as farmers, as agricultural managers, must be able to cope with the situation in order to survive“, he added.