DAMAGE ASSESSMENT IN AGRICULTURE – FLOOD DAMAGES IN PERENNIAL CROPS

Abstract

Contributing to the already existing vulnerability and risks for the agricultural producers, natural disasters influence the development of agricultural production and in most instances with a negative connotation. Agricultural production is greatly reliant on weather conditions, and is often adversely affected by disasters related to weather and climate circumstances. In August 2016, North Macedonia and especially the region around the capital city of Skopje was heavily hit by floods, causing considerable damage to the agricultural production in this region. This natural disaster is expected to have a prolonged impact and assessing the damage for the perennial crops is important for the farmers, but would also contribute in the evidence based research on the topic. The results presented in this paper are based actual data, collected immediately after the flood. The analysis includes the reported damages in crop production, their structure, area affected, etc. The damage estimations are based on standard valuation methods published in the national Official Gazette. The data set contains information that provide damage assessment, but also gives grounds for compensation of farmers who were most affected. There is an urgent need to mitigate the effects of natural disasters in the agricultural sector, as well as highlight the need of permanent prevention and insurance practices in the sector.