13 May 2013, 21:00
In Armenia, farmers block road demanding compensations for damage from hail
Today, the highway Armavir-Margara was blocked by farmers from the Armavir Region, who demanded compensations for the damage caused by heavy hail.
On May 12, Armenia was hit by a strong hail that has damaged farmland in three cities and about 20 villages of the Armavir and Aragatsotn Regions. In particular, in the Armavir Region the hail hit the cities of Armavir and Metsamor and the village of Getashen, Amasiya, Shenavan, Djrashen, Aknalich, Nor Armavir, Nor Artaget, Djrarat, Nalbandyan and Bergashat.
The today's action was attended by residents of a dozen of villages who blocked the road, demanding to quickly solve their problems caused by the hail. The Governor of the Armavir Region Ashot Kagramanyan asked for several days from the farmers to study the situation, the "Aysor.am" writes.
As a result of an emergency sitting of the Ministry of Agriculture, a working group was set up for appraising the damage caused by the hail. Expert groups, headed by the minister's deputies, have been sent to the affected farms, the ARKA reports.
The damage could have been less, should local residents had been warned in advance about the upcoming frost, and should the anti-hail stations in Armavir had used more efficient acetylene in the fight with the hail, not butane, Grach Berberyan, the chairman of the non-profit organization (NPO) "Agrarian Union", said today, as quoted by the "Lragir.am".
