Cultivated land in Kocani, Macedonia’s main rice growing region, has declined by almost a quarter, warned interim Deputy Agriculture Minister Cvetan Tripunovski from VMRO-DPMNE, who said that Minister Ljupco Nikolovski has failed to keep the irrigation system in order.

Yesterday Nikolovski was in Kocani, but neglected to say that we have 2,000 hectares less under ultivation compared to 2016. That is a sign of the poor agriculturee policies. Where we once had 9,000 hectares under cultivation, now we ar down to 6,800. The SDS party completely wrecked the irrigation system and left the canals unmaintained and clogged for years. Meanwhile, the company managing the irrigation canals is financially drained, Tripunovski said.

Tirpunovski is named to the Government as an opposition official, tasked to make sure the DUI – SDSM Government does not abuse farm subsidies to buy votes.