Nearly one third of cereal crop area in Lithuania suffered damages due to heavy rains this year, the country's Ministry of Agriculture said on Friday. The ministry expects the European Commission to reply soon on whether funds will be allocated to affected Lithuanian farmers in order to compensate for the damage, the ministry's statement read. "Latvia, Estonia, Sweden and Finland also requested EU assistance," Bronius Markauskas, minister of agriculture, was quoted as saying in the statement. In the beginning of October, the Lithuanian government announced the state of emergency over losses the country's farmers suffered due to heavy rains this year. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, 6,985 cereal crops farms covering 408,888 hectares area suffered losses amid heavy rain-falls, which accounts for 27 percent of all crop area. Total of 67,149 hectares of crops, including cereals, buckwheat and corn, were totally destroyed. The harvest of potatoes, vegetables, berries, garden or fodder plants was also seriously damaged. Eastern Lithuania was affected the most, the data of municipalities showed. Unusually heavy rains during this summer destroyed the harvest in many parts of the country or made it nearly impossible for many Lithuanian farmers to pick crops and prepare fields. Source - http://news.xinhuanet.com