VILNIUS, June 11 (Xinhua) -- The Lithuanian farmers warned on Monday about possible losses of harvest and lack of fodder for domestic animals amid drought officially declared in five municipalities of the country.
"The drought is something similar with volcano eruption, you can't protect yourself against it. The plants can't absorb fertilizers, vegetation has stopped, the plant roots are damaged," Kestutis Sujeta, Chairman of Lithuanian Farmers Union Lazdijai department was quoted as saying by news agency Elta.
"The harvest of crops this year might be small or lost. Due to the drought, manufacturing of feedstuff for domestic animals have significantly dropped," Stasys Supranavicius, head of agricultural department at Alytus district municipality, was quoted as saying in a separate statement released on Monday.
Lazdijai and Alytus are among the five municipalities where Lithuanian Hydrometeorological Service officially declared drought last week, together with Marijampole, Trakai district and Kalvarija municipalities.
Lithuania's Ministry of Agriculture said it was monitoring the situation.
"We expect that the largest part of losses will be compensated by insurance. However, if extreme situation is declared due to the lost crops, we will look for possibilities to help farmers," said Rimantas Krasuckis, director of the Department of Agricultural Manufacturing and Food Industry at the ministry.
The last time Lithuania declared a drought, which lasted few days, was in 2015, according to Lithuanian Hydrometeorological Service.
But as for the current drought, meteorologists don't exclude the possibility that drought will continue until July.
The service said that drought is being observed also in other Lithuanian regions.
In autumn 2017, more than 10 Lithuanian municipalities declared an emergency situation due to heavy rains.
The government declared a nationwide emergency last October and asked the European Commission to help cover losses suffered by rain-affected farmers.
