MOSCOW, Aug 3 (PRIME) — The costs of direct damage to Russian agriculture producers as a result of a severe drought in 2010 are estimated at 41.8 billion rubles, the press office of Russias Audit Chamber said Wednesday.
The service found that over 21,500 farms were affected by the drought in 2010, while over 13.3 million hectares of crops were lost.
The Russian government provided 35.0 billion rubles to farmers to compensate for the damage, while 11.1 billion rubles were allocated from the regions budgets, the Audit Chamber added.
Meanwhile, the service believes that the development of agriculture insurance services in Russia could help prevent such consequences in the future.
In 2010, the countrys grain harvest fell 35% on the year to 60 million tonnes due to the drought, Agriculture Minister Yelena Skrynnik said earlier.
(27.8154 rubles U.S. $1)
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