The grain harvest this year appears much better than last year. Prime Minister Robert Fico noted this on Monday during a visit to the agricultural cooperative in the village of Neverice in western Slovakia. “We can talk about a decent, average level, as was the case in previous years. We all rely on retail chains having a bit of common sense, so there could be pressure on a slight decrease of food prices,” he said.
In his opinion, food prices could also help with inflation. The President of the Slovak Farm and Food Chamber, Milan Semančík, pointed out that western Slovakia is Slovakia’s breadbasket, producing two-thirds of the country’s grain harvest. “The harvest is significantly better than last year because last year there was a problem with the weather, especially prolonged drought, with some farms facing crop losses of 50 percent to 60 percent,” noted Semančík. Farmers from several cooperative farms met with Prime Minister Fico and Agriculture Minister Ľubomír Jahnátek in Neverice and briefed them about how the harvest is progressing as well as their serious problems in livestock production. According to Fico, a European funding mechanism could help in this area, which the government intends to use in the future. “We also spoke about purchases of agricultural land and its rent, where the Agriculture Ministry prepared a special mechanism so that farmers either have access to land, or be able to access land in a way that other owners could not speculate it, taking away this land and selling from it directly from under their feet,” said Fico.
