Hail damages 8,700 hectares of agricultural land - official

ArmInfo.As of today, hail has damaged 8.7 thousand hectares of agricultural land. This was reported  in Parliament on June 11 by Deputy Minister of Economy of Armenia in charge of agriculture Arman Khojoyan.

He noted that this is not a final assessment, since hail continues to  fall. But at the moment, according to the deputy head of the  department, the situation has developed in such a way that in certain  regions the damage is 20-30%, in other areas it reaches 70-80%, and  somewhere even 100%. <If hail was previously considered a risk that  falls from time to time. Now it has become a recurring disaster. We  have launched a program to introduce anti-hail networks and we think  that with such tools we will be able not only to reimburse expenses,  but also protect the harvest>, - said Khojoyan.

Today, as the Deputy Minister further reported, consultations are  being held on this topic in an expanded format, during which it was  possible to determine certain approaches necessary for  implementation. The department will present a final assessment of the  damage caused only at the end of June. <Then we will come up with a  proposal, but it will be based on the assessment of expenses that was  in effect in the insurance system>, he added.

Recall that in early May of this year, Economy Minister Gevorg  Papoyan reported in Parliament that as a result of a strong hailstorm  that hit the Ararat region of Armenia the day before, local farmers  suffered significant damage. As an assistance measure, he then  recalled the agricultural risk insurance program, according to which  the state subsidizes 70 to 80% of the entire lost harvest. The  farmers themselves pay insurance payments in the amount of only 20%,  the remaining 80% falls to the government. Thus, as Papoyan  emphasized then, the affected farmers will receive the necessary  compensation. As for villagers who have not insured their risks and  who have credit obligations, decisions will be made on each  individual case together with the country's commercial banks.