Speaking at a meeting with the Croatian Farmers Union (SHS) in Retkovci near Vinkovci, Jakovina said reforms in agriculture were inevitable.
"We have to distinguish who are indeed active farmers from those for whom this has been a supplemental source of income or perhaps even a testing ground for wrongdoing with subsidies," he said, adding that it was unrealistic that there were 233,000 family farms in Croatia.
Jakovina said the state had no debts to farmers, as all state aid for 2011 had been paid.
SHS president Tomislav Pokrovac criticised the new farmland draft law and the fact that there had been no measures to cushion the effects of the drought so far, adding that the SHS estimated the damage in eastern Croatia in excess of a billion kuna.
Asked by the press if the SHS would stage protests if they were disgruntled with the drought damage compensation, Pokrovac said "it's never too late for protests and it's easy to motivate people because life if tough."
(EUR 1 = HRK 7.4)