Lithuanian Grain Growers' Association

The Lithuanian government has decided to declare a nationwide state of emergency due to a prolonged drought to allow farmers who get EU support to avoid sanctions and to facilitate negotiations with buyers of their products.

Giedrius Surplys was on Tuesday sworn in as Lithuania's agriculture minister, becoming the country's first post-independence minister without any previous links to the agriculture sector.

The rainy weather that has set in in Lithuania this week starts hampering the harvesting of cereals crops as in some areas it is too wet for combine harvesters to enter the fields.