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00:00Good evening! A new edition of Romania, I love you, is starting!
00:13The prolonged drought, the thermal stress, the climate changes affect our lives, safety, cultures, hygiene, comfort.
00:21Water has become very important.
00:24Who will have water resources, but also land and technologies, plus the interest to cultivate, will have an advantage.
00:30Serious farmers no longer rely on good weather for harvests.
00:34Too often, droughts, but also rains or extreme thunderstorms, cause floods.
00:38The usual states to remove wheat from the deserts, adapt.
00:42We, no. A report by Rares Nastase.
00:46This summer, Romania was one of the countries in which it was most clearly seen
00:51how affected can be a territory under the influence of climate change.
00:55In the south-west, that is, in Caras, Mehedinti and Dolj, we had huge fires of vegetation,
01:00for which airmen intervened, as we saw in other years through Greece, Spain or other Mediterranean states.
01:15Less than a week later, in the east of Romania, in the village of Galati,
01:18cyclone Boris brought floods and loss of life after massive rainfall.
01:25The house is in the water, the whole house is in the water.
01:28In some areas, it has rained continuously.
01:30In others, Segeta has apocalyptic images.
01:33Outside the Carpathian Arch, all agriculture has to suffer enormously.
01:38I went to the mercy of the Lord, that is, if it is, if not, no.
01:42I went to the mercy of the Lord, and you saw what the Lord did this year.
01:47There were whole weeks with temperatures over 40 degrees.
01:51We were melted by arsic and in the mountainous areas,
01:54where the thermal discomfort and temperatures over 36 degrees have become a habit.
01:59What do we do with knives to fight them?
02:02They take them from above, that's what they want.
02:04The knives and the basins are empty.
02:06In South Africa, in Insa, a month ago, oil was often played through the snow.
02:10We have received terrifying hail and thunderstorms.
02:25At the European level, the Copernicus Service for Climate Change of the Union
02:29announced this summer that, starting with June 2023,
02:32each month has been the warmest since the beginning of the recordings.
02:37There have been 13 consecutive months with maximum values,
02:40one hotter than the other.
02:43All records fall with such a large margin.
02:47In Europe we had the strongest drought in the last 500 years.
02:52July 21, 2024 was announced as the warmest day in history
02:57in global recordings.
02:59All the authorities of the Union take seriously the uncontained wave of arsic
03:03that dries up the earth, especially since it comes with extreme phenomena.
03:08This is a moment of need, of disaster, of natural disaster.
03:12This one and the ones that will come in years to come will be greater
03:16and the socio-economic losses and the environmental impacts will be greater.
03:20So we really have to start thinking quickly about the fact that water is scarce
03:26and that we have to use it wisely.
03:29In turn, the United Nations warns that by 2050
03:33the global food demand will increase by over 70%
03:37on the basis of the increasing population.
03:40The inevitable battle of the future will take place
03:42in any corner of the world, on food and water.
03:46All UN experts have reported that globally
03:49over 12 million hectares of arable land are degraded irremediably annually.
03:54To understand how fast the pace is,
03:57from all over the planet 23 hectares are lost
04:00in the time that follows a minute of this report.
04:07Globally, the focus is more and more on obtaining water reserves.
04:12As we see, soon it will become a very expensive resource
04:17and everyone will want to reach it.
04:20We don't have water reserves
04:22and we barely understand how important this resource will become
04:25which will be practically a strong currency in the world economy.
04:29We had a bad year of 4-5 years of agriculture,
04:33now we have a good year of 4-5 years.
04:36Nicolae Mărăcine is a university professor.
04:39He teaches students in functional improvements.
04:42We see the area of the Carpathian Arch.
04:45A lot of rivers have dried up.
04:47Quantitatively, the amount of rainfall has not changed much.
04:52What has changed?
04:54The intensity of the rain and the distribution of rain in time.
04:58You see that we don't have spring and autumn anymore.
05:02When we had those heavy rains with a low infiltration rate,
05:07this water fed the springs.
05:10Now we have 100-100 liters per square meter in 2 hours.
05:14Not having measures to fight the erosion of the soil,
05:19to slow down the flow and infiltrate,
05:22the springs are drying up.
05:24It's very simple.
05:26Climate changes are present.
05:28We see here what happened in Galati,
05:31from one extreme to another.
05:33The earth needs winter with snow
05:35and many months with low rainfall,
05:37annually, in order to recover.
05:39The freatic layer has fallen vertiginously
05:41and you can't help but wonder
05:43what agriculture will look like in the following years,
05:45in the same weather conditions,
05:47when we won't adapt and we won't learn
05:49how to have water for crops
05:51and take care of the hydrological resources
05:53that we still have.
05:55The farmers of Banat were envious
05:57of the homologues from the rest of the country
05:59for the massive production of corn.
06:01We look at the beans, they are very small.
06:03They have developed partially.
06:05They have staphidized.
06:07Yes, they have staphidized because of the threshing.
06:09They lost the water from the beans very quickly
06:11and they haven't developed anymore.
06:13We are the 4th country in the European Community
06:15that has the agricultural surface
06:17and the agricultural potential.
06:19Unfortunately, we don't have a national strategy
06:21at the Ministry of Agriculture,
06:23the Ministry of Environment
06:25and so on,
06:27in which we can have slurry,
06:29we can have water accumulation,
06:31because in Banat we had a saying,
06:33we also make corn with rye.
06:35But unfortunately, the rye also disappeared.
06:37We certainly didn't anticipate
06:39such a drought.
06:41Teleorman and other three counties
06:43were incorporated in 2024
06:45to the extreme pedagogical drought
06:47for the rye culture.
06:49Here we are on the Frăsinet lake,
06:51a place between huge agricultural surfaces.
06:53It was a lake until June this year.
06:55Then it began to evaporate massively
06:57and the slurry of water disappeared,
06:59so that fishermen from the area
07:01managed to catch the fish by hand.
07:03Marius Somesani is an agronomist
07:05and farmer in the area.
07:07Completely dry, you go with the car
07:09through it, you don't sink.
07:11It's dry, it's concrete,
07:13we can make bricks.
07:15It dried a lot during the period
07:17when we had three weeks
07:19with temperatures over 40 degrees.
07:21If you looked from one side
07:23of the water stream,
07:25you could see how the water evaporated.
07:27We can also find stunning images
07:29of the slurry in Comana, in Giurgiu.
07:31At 35 km from Bucharest,
07:33until this spring,
07:35there was the Neajlov delta
07:37with a lot of biodiversity
07:39in the area.
07:49At school, children still learn
07:51that the Neajlov delta
07:53is the second largest area in Romania
07:55after the Danube Delta.
07:57Well, in a few years,
07:59this information may be removed
08:01from the school curriculum
08:03because it will no longer be up-to-date.
08:05Sooner or later, such areas
08:07will become a national park.
08:09Comana National Park
08:11belongs to the National Region
08:13of RomSilva Forest.
08:15It rained these days,
08:17it rained all over the country,
08:19not only in Moldova.
08:21It rained in the south,
08:23in the west of the country.
08:25You can't feel it here.
08:27Here we have a surface
08:29of 12 square kilometers,
08:31and a rain of a few millimeters
08:33does not produce an immediate effect
08:35on the environment.
08:37It should be relatively wet here,
08:39right?
08:41It has been so dry all year.
08:43No.
08:45In the summer,
08:47the level began to drop so much
08:49that the hydric balance
08:51began to become negative.
08:53This part was floating.
08:55Oh, it was actually floating.
08:57Ecosystems are affected,
08:59tourism, but also people's lives,
09:01not just agriculture.
09:03The rains in Moldova
09:05have not been so intense since May.
09:07The few drops that fell in September
09:09did not even count after a hot summer
09:11in which the hot wind dried the plants.
09:13The worst thing is that the rivers
09:15such as Sušiţa, Sohodol or Blacniţa
09:17have completely dried up,
09:19which has not happened
09:21in the last half century.
09:23I am 40 years old,
09:25this is the first time this happens.
09:27We are in Albia,
09:29where the Blacniţa River should flow.
09:31Almost a month of autumn has passed
09:33and a few rains
09:35that have been
09:37in the last 2-3 weeks.
09:39The water required
09:41by the soil
09:43has not yet been enough.
09:47It is a disaster
09:49for the Freatica River.
09:51The deep springs
09:53over 20 meters have dried up
09:55over the summer,
09:57and now people receive water
09:59for as many days as possible.
10:01It has been 15-20 years
10:03since the first year
10:05when there is no water.
10:07People can not find water
10:09even if they dig
10:11near the Albia River.
10:13The soil is hard, dry
10:15and has a lot of moisture.
10:17Three large lakes
10:19in the area between Alexandria and Videle
10:21no longer have a drop of water,
10:23and of the other two,
10:25the light can only be seen here and there.
10:27These lakes were arranged
10:29between the Tarlanei
10:31in the communist regime
10:33in order to have
10:35reserves for agriculture
10:37and zootechnics.
10:39There were times
10:41when it rained and snowed.
10:43Without water,
10:45no one grows corn.
10:47Instead, farmers gather
10:49to learn from each other
10:51how to put wheat and wheat
10:53in places where it has not rained since spring.
10:55Marius Somesani shows them
10:57a solution from Australia
10:59or from the African continent,
11:01where the Tarlanei are covered
11:03with straw after sowing.
11:05Here I used some chains
11:07to bring the straw back
11:09to the sowing area.
11:11In some areas it works too well,
11:13in other areas it does not work at all.
11:15In the back of the section,
11:17with some Ys,
11:19we bring the straw back
11:21to avoid heating
11:23the water from the sowing area.
11:25Another farmer who knows
11:27how to grow wheat
11:29in desert areas in Russia
11:31shows us the difference
11:33between the ground that burns
11:35directly under the sun
11:37and the one covered with straw
11:39where the temperature
11:41reaches half.
11:4348, yes?
11:45And under the straw?
11:4718.
11:49Let's conserve water
11:51You can see the difference very well.
11:53From the surface of the straw,
11:5530.
11:57They are white,
11:59the sun reflects on them.
12:01We had an exact discussion
12:03on farm budgets related
12:05to the current climatic conditions.
12:07We have to learn to do agriculture
12:09with less money,
12:11much less inputs,
12:13much less treatments,
12:15much less crossings on the ground.
12:17If we look at other countries
12:19with similar climatic conditions,
12:21yes, it is possible.
12:23Do we adapt?
12:25Do we do what the Spaniards do?
12:27We don't invent anything,
12:29we do what the Australians do,
12:31or the Spaniards,
12:33where the conditions are quite bad,
12:35where they don't have subsidies
12:37and where they have to survive
12:39and do conservative agriculture.
12:41We will see this more and more
12:43in Romania in the next 10 years.
12:45We already see this in Romania.
12:47Striptill.
12:49You work only here and here.
12:51You have a distance of 30 cm.
12:53Conventionally, what you have here,
12:55you have on all this width of work.
12:57And this is called striptill?
12:59Striptill, yes.
13:01It is no longer necessary
13:03to do this mechanized work,
13:05it is done by a plant.
13:07That is, the roots are practically
13:09cutting the soil in such a way
13:11that the next crop
13:13benefits from the soil.
13:15These sheep have been missing
13:17for many years,
13:19from year to year worse.
13:21And calibrated means
13:23including the purchase of tools?
13:25Calibrated means plowing,
13:27cutting, tools, tractors,
13:29profiling the farm.
13:31Somewhere at 2.5 tons,
13:33we did the minimum at the Sunflower
13:35and this year we did 400 kg.
13:37Last year we closed at 1600,
13:39so less and less.
13:41We profiled the farm in a way
13:43that we do not have forests.
13:45That is, we do not have that rain,
13:476 liters, 5 liters, 3 liters.
13:49In the west of the country
13:51and in Moldova, farmers are looking
13:53for solutions for their crops,
13:55in conditions where they are hit
13:57by drought like Nicula,
13:59but also by extreme phenomena.
14:01We come back.
14:07In the west of the country,
14:09in the Timiș and Arad counties,
14:11farmers are looking for solutions
14:13for their crops.
14:15For several years,
14:17there has been a shortage of water
14:19in this region,
14:21and the production has dropped
14:23by half.
14:25Some of the farmers water
14:27ponds and canals
14:29to retain rainwater
14:31or snow,
14:33at least in the winter months.
14:35Only this has strengthened.
14:37The lack of forest waste
14:39and the amount of water
14:41that hit the area in Slobozia,
14:43Conachi or Vamesh
14:45did not come from the watercourses,
14:47but from the accumulations
14:49on the slopes.
14:51Here you can clearly see
14:53how the water came from the hills,
14:55crossed the road,
14:57and then went to the fields
14:59in the flooded areas of the valley.
15:01But what if all these hills
15:03were forested?
15:05What if there was a forest barrier
15:07between the hills and the fields?
15:11In the west of the country,
15:13where it rained in other years,
15:15some of the farmers,
15:17waiting for the intervention
15:19of the authorities,
15:21began to plant their own
15:23forest waste.
15:25In Julvăz, Timiș,
15:27a young farmer
15:29looted the fields
15:31and removed some agricultural
15:33areas in his property,
15:35such as India,
15:37Egypt, Sudan
15:39or other African countries.
15:41Alexander Dejianski
15:43explains the reason for the plantings
15:45even in the rain.
15:47These are 8 years old,
15:49but 2 years ago
15:51they were cut
15:53and they grew again.
15:55We divided this 25 hectares
15:57into 6 sub-parts
15:59and planted
16:01rows of
16:03energetic plop.
16:05The friatic water
16:07is raised up
16:09through their roots
16:11and let's not forget that
16:13the wind protection
16:15is given even
16:17up to 6 times
16:19the height of the rows of trees.
16:21These trees will reach,
16:23like the ones nearby,
16:25somewhere at 12-13 meters in height.
16:27We can bring a little more water,
16:29we can reduce
16:31because we have shaded areas,
16:33we have other areas of circulation
16:35of air currents.
16:37The same farmer
16:39started to arrange
16:41on his money the Anifu channels
16:43that can provide him with water
16:45for irrigation from the Timiș river.
16:47He also waited for the institution
16:49to pay them off,
16:51but as this did not happen,
16:53he pays from him for the release
16:55of the artificial streams
16:57that cross some of the fields.
16:59We use the water from the winter
17:01to have something to irrigate
17:03in the dry season.
17:05This year we had
17:07about 300 hectares irrigated
17:09only from the rain water
17:11stored on these channels.
17:13Cosmin Micu is a farmer
17:15in Arad County,
17:17where he is looking for desperate solutions
17:19for water supply.
17:21He started to arrange
17:23artificial lakes between the fields.
17:25He finished one and is working on the second one.
17:27He is working on the relief
17:29in order to obtain some slopes
17:31that will gravitationally direct
17:33the rain water when the rainfall
17:35comes to the huge lakes.
17:37It is a huge financial effort.
17:39For a single beam
17:411 million euros were invested.
17:43It is done in a lot of countries,
17:45in all of America, in Australia
17:47and in other countries,
17:49even in European countries.
17:51I talked to someone who specializes
17:53in water supply, a company from Hungary
17:55and he told me that he made
17:57hundreds of water accumulations
17:59in Hungary.
18:01It is necessary to say that such a project
18:03is very expensive.
18:05It is not up to any farmer
18:07to make such an investment
18:09because we are talking about prices
18:11between 2 and 4 euros
18:13for each cubic meter excavated.
18:15We have on one side irrigated
18:17and on the other side unirrigated.
18:19You can see how it looks.
18:21If this year we had not irrigated,
18:23it would have written
18:25a failure on me.
18:27Fantastic!
18:29You can see it clearly.
18:31Here, where I have 90 hectares,
18:33I will bring the drums,
18:35in a week I will irrigate it
18:37and the rapeseed will sprout.
18:3990 hectares.
18:41With water from here?
18:43With water from here.
18:45To irrigate 90 hectares with 20 liters,
18:47I need 18,000 cubic meters of water.
18:49What do you have here?
18:51I have 18,000 cubic meters of water.
18:53He and other Romanian farmers
18:55ask the National Road Company
18:57to impose through the contract
18:59of companies that arrange
19:01highways and surrounding centers
19:03to dig huge basins for farmers
19:05if they still need land
19:07for infrastructure projects.
19:09In other words, two ministries
19:11should cooperate in the long term
19:13agriculture and transportation.
19:15Sir, in the area of the Radoradia expressway
19:17there are accumulator bumps
19:19that create water accumulations
19:21and give them to the farmers.
19:23Or they discuss with the farmers
19:25that they want to make the Radoradia expressway,
19:27which farmers are willing to give land
19:29for excavation.
19:31Many rivers have become
19:33from rivers with permanent
19:35flow regimes
19:37into a temporary flow regime
19:39and then with very high flow rates
19:41and create dams,
19:43which imposes the creation
19:45of a lot of water accumulations
19:47to create reserves
19:49so that during the summer
19:51we can feed the entire national irrigation system.
19:53The floods in the Galati County
19:55showed the fury of the waters,
19:57but especially what quantities
19:59have been able to gather in a very short term.
20:01There are specialists who support
20:03that in the near future we will have to learn
20:05to take advantage of this water
20:07that comes and goes,
20:09in the absence of some arrangements
20:11to maintain it longer.
20:13In the Vamesi municipality,
20:15Tudor Vladimirescu
20:17has been blocked for almost a week
20:19because of a huge lake
20:21formed in extravillan.
20:23We are at the border between the localities
20:25and the agricultural areas.
20:27Here some bumps will form,
20:29but over time the water will evaporate
20:31or retreat into the ground.
20:33What do we do with it?
20:35There are systems in other countries
20:37that can take over this water
20:39and can be reused in irrigation,
20:41not even in Romania.
20:43Hungary, from the Danube,
20:45has stored a billion cubic meters of water.
20:47There, behind me,
20:49is the Suhurlui river.
20:51Now it has a very high level,
20:53but in the rest of the year
20:55it is said to be a riverbed.
20:57And here, in the future,
20:59two pools have been obtained,
21:01which is normally an area for grazing.
21:03At Vamesi and Piscu,
21:05the people affected by the floods
21:07are talking about a severe drought
21:09in the rest of the year.
21:11Yes, where the floods are now.
21:13Was it dry before? Were the crops affected?
21:15Yes.
21:17If we had come two or three months ago,
21:19we would have been talking about drought here.
21:21No one would have imagined it, right?
21:23It was. It didn't rain at all this summer.
21:25Let's not even think about a drop of rain.
21:27Many countries have made underground pools
21:29from corrugated polyethylene.
21:31Where did you see it?
21:33Where did you find out? What countries?
21:35The Poles are doing this thing.
21:37We have an inheritance of canals
21:39What is the potential of this?
21:41The potential is enormous.
21:43With a single step of pumping,
21:45from Mureș, you put water in the canal,
21:47and the water flows
21:49through the canals,
21:51and the water flows
21:53through the canals,
21:55and the water flows
21:57through the canals,
21:59and the water flows
22:01through the canals,
22:03and the water flows
22:05through the canals,
22:07and the water flows
22:09through the canals,
22:11and the water flows
22:13through the canals,
22:15and the water flows
22:17through the canals,
22:19and the water flows
22:21through the canals,
22:23and the water flows
22:25through the canals,
22:27and the water flows
22:29through the canals,
22:31and the water flows
22:33through the canals,
22:35Nicolae Mărăcine was the director of the NIF
22:37and he affirms that he worked on the national project
22:39through which a lot of money could have been taken
22:41through the PNRR for the irrigation system.
22:43The plan was presented to the European Commission
22:45which asked for the modification
22:47in the sense that the amount
22:49claimed was too high
22:51and the allocation of the budget
22:53on other directions was preferred.
22:55We had the perspective to take a PNRR
22:576.5 billion euros,
22:59somewhere we stumbled.
23:01I don't want to say, I don't want to give names,
23:03we know where we stumbled,
23:05it's a shame.
23:07With 6.5 billion euros we were solving
23:09not only the problem of irrigation in Romania,
23:11we were also solving the problem of fighting
23:13the erosion of the soil,
23:15and the problem of the infrastructure
23:17of the NIF base,
23:19and the problem of the infrastructure
23:21taken over by the organizations
23:23of water users.
23:25In the PNRR there are only 375 million
23:27left for drainage.
23:29We have, as we are here in the western area,
23:31small farms, which during the winter,
23:33if you make a basin of 100, 200, 300,
23:35500,000 cubic meters of water as a farmer,
23:37solve the problem.
23:39I will not solve it in totality,
23:41but I start and you have a clear policy
23:43and a long-term vision.
23:45There are places in the country
23:47where the state has allocated funds
23:49and the old stations have been modernized.
23:51In Bacau, between Sascut and Orbeni,
23:53there is a lake of the Siret river,
23:55where, through a modernized pump system,
23:57water is brought underground
23:59for irrigation.
24:01Nicu Șerban is one of the largest farmers in the area.
24:03He works over 10,000 hectares
24:05in two counties,
24:07and in Orbeni he has 2,200 hectares
24:09irrigated around the ANIF station,
24:11which received new pumps.
24:13But the network has capacity
24:15for 2,800 hectares,
24:17only that for the rest of the 600,
24:19the other farmers did not buy irrigation systems,
24:21but preferred to irrigate
24:23calamity crops,
24:25says Nicu Șerban.
24:27This is where the problem would start,
24:29says the farmer,
24:31who says that his neighbors
24:33with un-irrigated surfaces
24:35prefer to wait for help from the state
24:37of 200 euros per hectare of calamity
24:39and to hope for better times
24:41than to invest in irrigation systems
24:43on the surface or underground.
24:45We are in an area
24:47where irrigation can be done.
24:49People who have land in an irrigation system
24:51should be obliged to irrigate.
24:53And they should pay.
24:55What would be the cost of this land?
24:57What would it cost to irrigate?
24:59The standard cost,
25:01in Romania,
25:03on average per hectare,
25:05is around 1,000 euros.
25:07What should they do here?
25:09Here they just buy a drum,
25:11stretch it and water with it.
25:13It has water pressure.
25:15So there's water there?
25:17Yes.
25:19A drum with a barrel,
25:21which is the simplest version of irrigation,
25:23can irrigate up to
25:251,500 liters per square meter,
25:27which is approximately 15 hectares.
25:29You can irrigate between 12 and 16 tons.
25:31How much do we irrigate?
25:33Zero.
25:35This year we don't harvest anything
25:37in the corn field.
25:39It's the best in the neighboring field
25:41and the worst in the second field.
25:43The best is the worst
25:45on the other side.
25:47Estimating the production
25:49of silozed corn
25:51The silozed corn is exceptional.
25:53Look at the silo at the present time.
25:55It's about 40 tons of silozed corn.
25:57Nicu Șerban speaks
25:59of debts to banks
26:01of over 70 million euros
26:03to the group of companies owned
26:05and many of the loans he put
26:07in the most modern irrigation systems
26:09that he saw in Israel and the United States.
26:11Such a plot with adequate
26:13tubulature can cost
26:15between 4 and 7 million euros
26:17and is based on planting
26:19The costs are
26:21about 5,000 euros per hectare.
26:23This is where the underground
26:25distribution network passes.
26:27We only see this device on the surface
26:29which can be controlled
26:31via Bluetooth, meaning from a great distance.
26:33And back there
26:35we have the corn culture.
26:37It can be seen very well.
26:39It was and is systematically irrigated
26:41even down at the root.
26:43It is exactly what exists in an Israeli kibbutz.
26:45This is how they are organized.
26:47This is a cap control, as we call it.
26:49It consumes 1,000 cubic meters per hour
26:51and waters 300 hectares.
26:53We can give 6 liters of water
26:55per square meter
26:57every day.
26:59Look,
27:01here is a 40-centimeter
27:03drain and inside
27:05is a piece of plastic.
27:07It's a machine on that drain.
27:09It has some things that vibrate.
27:11Water enters and on this tube
27:13you have a bar.
27:15It's not just a hole,
27:17it's a drill, it's science.
27:19At 1,000 cubic meters per hour,
27:21it makes 20 tons.
27:23At this time, the corn is still green.
27:25At Erigasol, it's just a support.
27:27I don't take anything from the soil.
27:29I give everything I want to extract.
27:31All the nitrogen,
27:33phosphorus, potassium,
27:35everything they want to produce,
27:37I calculate and give them.
27:39I don't take nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium from the soil.
27:41So you don't have this idea that the soil is worse?
27:43In the sand, I get along the best.
27:45The tube is tightened
27:47at the end of the season and
27:49is repositioned next year on new crops.
27:51It's about irrigation
27:53where there is no need to bring water
27:55all over the field.
27:57On the method used successfully
27:59in the Israeli kibbutz,
28:01a bag of water must be formed
28:03where the plant roots are,
28:05even if the dry soil is very close.
28:07A sensor next to the plant
28:09transmits through the station's Bluetooth
28:11how much water and how many fertilizers
28:13to be sent to the cultivated area
28:15and everything is mechanized,
28:17without many employees.
28:19If I were a farmer
28:21with 100 hectares of land
28:23in the Saskut irrigation system,
28:25tomorrow I would give up at 90 hectares
28:27and I would take care of 10 hectares at Erigas.
28:29I would put all my energy
28:31there to be able to do
28:33as much production as possible
28:35on those 10 hectares,
28:37as efficiently and safely as possible.
28:39The land on 10 hectares
28:41is certainly larger than 100 hectares.
28:43Irrigated? Irrigated.
28:45People find solutions.
28:47Vegetables are produced
28:49in the desert,
28:51in the Gaza Strip.
28:53We return to the new case
28:55in which state representatives
28:57do not do their job.
28:59We have inherited projects from the previous regime
29:01that we abandoned,
29:03although they offered solutions.
29:10Both the government and the presidents
29:12have a subordinate institution
29:14that deals with the effects of climate change.
29:16The solutions are, however,
29:18rather immediate, not long-term.
29:20It is true that there are places
29:22where the state has invested
29:24with irrigation systems,
29:26but which work too little.
29:28In the United States there are areas
29:30where the American army has built dams
29:32which, when necessary,
29:34are used for irrigation,
29:36but those in the army
29:38are not used for irrigation.
29:40What is done legally at this time
29:42is that the irrigation activity
29:44is declared a strategic interest.
29:46In Galazia,
29:48the Agency for Functional Improvements
29:50has given the farmers
29:52a huge station
29:54inherited from the previous regime
29:56that pumps water from the Danube
29:58through an underground pipe
30:00for 80,000 hectares of agricultural land
30:02throughout the Kovurlui Valley.
30:04This, after they have joined
30:06the UAI project,
30:08the Water Users for Irrigation.
30:10The presidents and vice-presidents
30:12show us that out of 10 old pumps
30:14of more than 50 years,
30:16they have managed to change only one,
30:18a completely new one.
30:20It was a project of 1.5 million euros.
30:22And here's what the Romanian state does.
30:24We make a guide
30:26for setting up such a project.
30:28At an UAI,
30:30let's say it has 3-4 hundred hectares,
30:32you allow them to access
30:341.5 million euros,
30:36and at a federation
30:38that can serve
30:4080,000 hectares
30:42and a lot of UAIs,
30:44you give them 1.5 million euros.
30:46It doesn't make sense.
30:48The one over there can take
30:50as much as you have here.
30:52Exactly. We are on the same level.
30:54But it has 300 hectares,
30:561,000 hectares, and we can
30:58serve all this infrastructure.
31:00Out of 10 engines with water pumps,
31:02only 3 are needed.
31:04Many other investments are needed.
31:06You can see that this is also
31:08non-functional.
31:10But it's about a lot of money,
31:12just as this project was thought
31:14when it was conceived at the national level.
31:16The Romanian state had to think differently.
31:18At the water pump station
31:20from the Danube,
31:22this year,
31:24about 70-80 million lei
31:26were invested.
31:28Made by the Romanian state through ANIF.
31:30On the canal,
31:32the water pumps from the canal
31:34were given to ANIF
31:36to make investments of
31:38hundreds of millions of lei.
31:40We have big investments there.
31:42We have big investments from ANIF.
31:44But we also have investments
31:46from private farmers.
31:48And who invests here?
31:50So we have the heart
31:52of the infrastructure here.
31:54It's a waste to do it there and there
31:56if we don't do it here.
31:58It has been a disastrous year
32:00from a financial point of view for many farmers,
32:02after the land was ploughed
32:04all over the country.
32:06To help them start their work in the fall,
32:08the authorities announce
32:10that they are ready to give them
32:121,000 lei per hectare,
32:14about 200 euros,
32:16if needed.
32:18The payments are made
32:20according to the calamity culture
32:22and do not take into account
32:24that the farmer is in an area
32:26where only 10,000 of the 80,000 hectares
32:28are irrigated.
32:30The Romanian state pays
32:32for the energy consumed here.
32:34In such a way that the water
32:36reaches me who irrigate
32:38and you who don't want to irrigate.
32:40If you don't irrigate, it's your business.
32:42The state has made you available
32:44to do this.
32:46But if it comes and says
32:48that you didn't do anything
32:50and you go to the state,
32:52the state should say
32:54that you didn't do anything.
32:56But in theory,
32:58it is related to the calamity culture.
33:00The presidents irrigate
33:02the entire surface of the farm,
33:04over 300 hectares,
33:06while the vice-presidents
33:08have obtained European funding
33:10for pumps and ducts
33:12that bring water to 2,000 hectares
33:14worked at Piscu,
33:16that is, at 30 km from the hunters,
33:18because the station next to Galati
33:20sends water there.
33:22It goes on 12 hours.
33:24At 12 hours,
33:26only one area changes.
33:28That is, you irrigate here,
33:30it goes to another area?
33:32It goes to another area.
33:34This year, I made a special program
33:36for seed corn.
33:38Without agriculture,
33:40the cities of Romania would have nothing to eat,
33:42but the farmers are not united
33:44in efficient cooperatives.
33:46Large farms, that is,
33:48more than 100 hectares,
33:50are the ones in the next barrier,
33:5250-100 hectares,
33:54but they have gained land,
33:56that is, there are more.
33:58Last year, Romania was the largest
34:00corn exporter in Europe.
34:02Half of the surfaces dedicated to
34:04seed corn are managed
34:06by 18,000 large farms.
34:08But we sell much cheaper
34:10than other Europeans,
34:12because we send a lot out of the community space.
34:14Even so, corn is the most profitable
34:16culture in Romanian farms,
34:18even if it rains.
34:20We will no longer see corn.
34:22Yes?
34:24Yes, because we will slowly give up
34:26the corn culture.
34:28You can't go year after year
34:30in a loss, when you invest
34:32in a hectare of land somewhere
34:34at 4,000-5,000 lei,
34:36to get 6 tons,
34:38or 80 pounds of corn today.
34:40If the weather and drought
34:42continue like this,
34:44I believe that Romania
34:46will become the largest corn importer
34:48in a few years.
34:50In many areas of the country,
34:52there is no collaboration
34:54between small and large farmers.
34:56Laurentiu Baciu was the president
34:58of the LAPAR,
35:00that is, the League of Associations
35:02of Agricultural Producers,
35:04until 2019.
35:06Neither now nor when he was
35:08the head of our farmers,
35:10he managed to convince
35:12the homologues in the area
35:14to invest 2,000 hectares,
35:16totally un-irrigated.
35:18The old station can bring water
35:20from Siret for almost 2,800 hectares,
35:22divided among other owners
35:24of small farms.
35:26In order to put this whole thing
35:28into operation,
35:30I would need 5-6 million euros.
35:32Who cares?
35:34This investment should stop everyone.
35:36The farmers who occupy
35:38the 2,800 hectares
35:40should come and,
35:42when the land is un-irrigated,
35:44put their money and start working.
35:46That's what we need.
35:48It's not good
35:50to live in the moment.
35:52It's good now.
35:54It's good now.
35:56And not to look over 15 years?
35:58Don't even think about it.
36:00If he solved something,
36:02if he had the land
36:04somewhere down here,
36:06he could have planted some corn.
36:08It's good like this.
36:10We have 780,000 farmers,
36:1250,000 of them
36:14are irrigating the marfa.
36:16The rest are voters.
36:20The thing is that,
36:22before 1989,
36:24we had people in charge
36:26who thought about long periods
36:28of drought,
36:30so they designed systems
36:32for water storage.
36:34In Suhurlui, Galati,
36:36an area hit by floods in September,
36:38the water level rose by 80%.
36:40In Amonte de Comuna,
36:42in the golden age,
36:44a huge basin was partially built,
36:46with a dam,
36:48where the water
36:50from all the nearby hills is collected.
36:52There are ducts up there,
36:54if you can see them,
36:56they are the ducts that
36:58enter the dam
37:00for the irrigation.
37:02In the spring,
37:04when the water was rising in the Danube,
37:06it was irrigated from here,
37:08including Vaslui.
37:10Wait a minute, was it functional?
37:12No, never.
37:14This was the project.
37:16In 1989, after 1989,
37:18they worked a little more,
37:20and then it was abandoned.
37:22So it should have been for irrigation.
37:24For irrigation, this was the project.
37:26When the water was rising.
37:28Yes, when the water was rising,
37:30but it was mainly water,
37:32it was also a protection area.
37:34It had a double role,
37:36once it was a hydrographic protection
37:38for the localities,
37:40and for the irrigation agriculture.
37:42This was the main thing.
37:44In 1980, the Romanian state
37:46borrowed 350 million dollars
37:48from the World Bank
37:50for the system,
37:52which was said to irrigate
37:54145,000 hectares of land
37:56and could protect around 5,000 houses.
37:58Up on the hillside
38:00there is a channel
38:02through which the water
38:04is directed.
38:06It took them at least 6-7 years.
38:08It would have taken another year or two
38:10to put it on the ground.
38:12And you're telling me that they put
38:14pipes all the way to the agricultural land?
38:16So, these pipelines, they have hydrants.
38:18At the moment,
38:20if the water was flowing,
38:22they could irrigate.
38:24So, the pipes were also pulled?
38:26Yes, the pipes were all put.
38:28I'm telling you, because I have land here,
38:30I have hydrants.
38:32If the water was coming,
38:34I could put pipes and irrigate.
38:36Just after the floods,
38:38the authorities claim
38:40that they are taking into account
38:42the restoration of the project.
38:44The proposal I'm going to make
38:46is to transform
38:48the main irrigation function
38:50into a non-permanent accumulation
38:52of a smaller capacity,
38:54but the specialists will decide
38:56the necessary volume
38:58for that arrangement.
39:00Dried water,
39:02a resource for irrigation.
39:04Such solutions are in the civilized world,
39:06in modern cities,
39:08in the countries where
39:10sewage is made.
39:12But not even in Romania.
39:14We have such a resource,
39:16but we don't use it.
39:18There is no project at the moment
39:20that aims to use dried water.
39:22A team from Romania loves you
39:24filmed 6 years ago how the Israelis
39:26irrigate every town
39:28with a dried water station.
39:30Only in 2024,
39:32a town hall from us
39:34is calculating something like this.
39:36The Edilei from Buzau
39:38have started a project
39:40that includes 3 pools,
39:42in the valley of the station
39:44where the water is purified
39:46from the city's sewage.
39:48Then, from the last big pool,
39:502 main ones will be drawn
39:52that will bring water
39:54The quality is fed
39:56from 62 deep pools.
39:58The water goes to all the residents
40:00and then the sewage is brought
40:02back in nature, in Buzau river
40:04and for all the 3 operations
40:06the town hall and the locals pay.
40:08This water will reach the irrigation,
40:10of course.
40:12And at this moment,
40:14it reaches the dried water itself,
40:16in the sense that, as you can see,
40:18of very good quality,
40:20following the highest European standards,
40:22the water is collected
40:24and sent to Buzau river.
40:26This is the situation
40:28in every city in Romania.
40:30This is not a unique thing.
40:32We have 340 million cubic meters
40:34at this moment
40:36and next year,
40:38when all the stations
40:40will be purified,
40:42we will reach 700-800 million cubic meters
40:44of dried water that we will
40:46throw into the emissary.
40:48The final pool,
40:50will have 60 hectares.
40:52We take it here
40:54and here, in this area,
40:56we already have 21 hectares
40:58belonging to the Buzau town hall,
41:00where the Urbis dam was.
41:02We don't reach those 21,000 hectares.
41:04We identified here
41:06an area that does not quite
41:08correspond to the agricultural point of view,
41:10which can be expropriated.
41:12How much money do you need?
41:14Over 200 million euros, for sure.
41:16But there is a problem
41:18in Romania,
41:20with a project that delivers
41:22drainage water on agricultural surfaces.
41:24Without legislation,
41:26this water cannot be used
41:28for agriculture.
41:30For example, in Israel,
41:32the ministry that is responsible
41:34for this project is the Ministry of Health,
41:36because problems can arise.
41:38Of course, this project will also be equipped
41:40with a super laboratory.
41:42When extreme phenomena occur,
41:44we are all watching
41:46for inter-ministerial interventions,
41:48for quick, hot interventions.
41:50But, from the President's official website,
41:52we find that the head of state
41:54has the Department of Climate and Sustainability
41:56under his command,
41:58for vision and long-term strategies.
42:00From the same website, we also find
42:02that the Department of Climate and Sustainability
42:04contributes to the development of
42:06expertise networks on climate change governance problems,
42:08bringing together experts from Romania
42:10and from abroad,
42:12including the Romanian diaspora.
42:14Since the establishment of the department in 2020,
42:16the President has stated in Brussels
42:18that we will be able to make Romania
42:20a leader in climate change.
42:22He regularly meets with government members,
42:24occasions when he states that the state,
42:26through its authorities,
42:28must take action.
42:30In the speeches read on the paper,
42:32everything seems to be in order.
42:34We respond to climate challenges
42:36by adapting to new realities.
42:38It is essential
42:40to ensure
42:42that the climate transition
42:44will be equitable, inclusive
42:46and compatible
42:48with economic growth.
42:50It is in vain to have farms equipped
42:52if, instead of harvests, we produce
42:54calamitous crops.
42:56Time to time, climate change
42:58is becoming more and more prevalent
43:00and obligatory to new measures.
43:02We have to get used to these conditions.
43:04It takes 10 years to make investments.
43:06Water is a finite resource
43:08and must be used efficiently.
43:10We need financial support
43:12because we already have
43:14a certain infrastructure.
43:16Maybe not the best,
43:18maybe not the most modern.
43:20Forest fires, floods,
43:22unbearable temperatures,
43:24disasters are already happening.
43:26The new normal requires adaptation
43:28and solutions that others already
43:30call for in agriculture and hydrology.
43:32It seems that we have not woken up
43:34and we have been cemented in dry soils
43:36instead of taking action on time.
43:38The most important resource
43:40we have, the mind,
43:42we will import more and more food
43:44and we will complain about hunger
43:46when it will be fertile, today,
43:48with small products.
43:50Thank you for all the messages.
43:52Our editions are on
43:54www.stirileprotv.ro and on VOIO.
43:56That's all for today.
43:58I leave you now with Stirile Pro TV.
44:00All the best!
44:08www.stirileprotv.ro