RIGA, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The damage Latvian farmers have suffered from this fall's heavy rainfalls and subsequent flooding has reached an estimated 50 to 60 million euros (59 to 72 million U.S. dollars), the head of the Latvian farmers' association said on public television on Tuesday.
The association's head Juris Lazdins said that around 80 percent of grain crops might have been harvested already, but that 20 percent remain on the fields, and most probably, many of them will be lost due to the bad weather conditions.
The farmers still hope though that the rain will subside and at least part of the crops can be saved, he said.
Under EU rules, farmers can apply for EU assistance if their losses reach a certain percentage of gross domestic product. In Latvia's case, the loss would have to be roughly 140 million euros to qualify for the assistance, Lazdins said.
According to Lazdins, Latvia, along with its Baltic neighbors Lithuania and Estonia, could still claim EU compensations as a particular region hit by a natural disaster.
Farmers have been struggling to harvest their crops in all Latvia this year. The Latvian agriculture ministry said Monday that it is considering applying to the European Commission for assistance together with Estonia and Lithuania. (1 euro = 1.20 U.S. dollars) Enditem
