Food security vital to Poland's sovereignty: gov’t minister

At a meeting in south-eastern Poland, Jan Ardanowski told farmers they had a special role in society.

“If we want to be a sovereign country, a country that decides itself how it develops and about its existence, then it is difficult to imagine sovereignty without food security,” he said.

Ardanowski added that farmers “should not be -- as was the case for many years -- treated as ballast, a burden, a problem, a ball and chain.”

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said earlier this week the Polish government was ready to amend the budget if needed in order to pay compensation to agricultural producers hit by drought.

Amid scorching temperatures, almost ​​65 percent of arable land in Poland has been affected by a lack of rain, according to state news agency PAP.

(pk)

Source: PAP