The Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) asked the government on Tuesday to activate commodity reserves to mitigate the consequences of this year's disastrous drought, which the party said in a statement had dealt a heavy blow to farming and food production.
The low yield of cereal and oil crops used for animal feed will result in a lower meat and milk offer and a 20-30 per cent growth of food prices, the HSS said, adding that this called for commodity reserve interventions in the wheat, maize and soy markets.
The party said this could also be an opportunity for stock-taking in the commodity reserves, recalling that the government added 40,000 tonnes of wheat to them in mid-2011.
