Rome, August 23 (Xinhua) -- Roundup: High temperatures and droughts hit European agriculture – focus on the third extreme weather in Europe
Xinhua News Agency
In late August, the grapes in central Italy were supposed to ripen and harvest quickly. For Faye Loteiro, a farmer with nearly two decades of experience in planting and brewing, this year's crop growth has really made her difficult.
This is a pumpkin damaged by drought taken in Mantua, Lombardy, Italy, on August 12. Italy is experiencing its worst drought in more than 70 years. The longest river in the country, the Wave River Basin, has dried up in many sections of the river, and the seawater at the mouth of the sea has been irrigated. Farmers in relevant areas of Italy have generally failed to harvest this year, and some farmers have lost as much as 80%. (Xinhua News Agency, photo by Alberto Lingria)
Located in tuscany in central Italy, Lotello's farms grow crops such as grapes, olive oil and seasonal vegetables, as well as produce such as wine and olive oil. Walking into the vineyards under the scorching sun, the soil here is light yellow, some places have cracked, and the skin of many grapes has grown "wrinkles", and the juice is difficult to call sufficient.
Lotello told Xinhua that due to the continuous heat and drought, her farm has been mired in the worst water crisis to date, and the rainwater collection device installed on the roof has become useless, and four sets of pumping equipment are running at full capacity to pump water from the ground to barely supply irrigation water.
Under the influence of extreme weather, Lotello lowered its production and sales forecasts for this year. She estimates that this year's grape production will be 20 percent less than the previous average, and about 2,000 bottles of wine will be produced. The production of olive oil worries her even more. Lotello said this year's olives are significantly smaller than in previous years, meaning the juice inside the fruit is thicker and bitterer, "I'm not sure if all consumers can accept the more bitter olive oil."
This is a photograph of the drought-stricken Lake Como in Como, Lombardy, Italy, on July 13. (Xinhua News Agency)
Since the beginning of the summer, Italy has suffered from a continuous high temperature and drought, and the Italian government declared a state of emergency in the five northern regions due to drought in early July. The data shows that the average temperature in June this year is 3.5 degrees Celsius higher than in previous years, while the precipitation in the first five months of this year is 50% lower than the average of the same period in the past 30 years. According to the Italian Association of Small and Medium-Sized Farmers, drought will reduce Italy's rice harvest by about 30% and nearly one-third of fruit and vegetable production.
Spain, also in southwestern Europe, has just experienced the hottest July on record. According to Roberto I halva, a wine producer in the La Rioja region of northern Spain, wine production in the region will decline this year, and if extreme weather continues, the wine will taste sweeter and have a higher alcohol content.
Joachim Rukwede, president of the German Farmers' Association, said German farmers are suffering a double whammy, with high temperatures and droughts on the one hand and soaring fertilizer and energy prices on the other, "if there is no sustained rainfall next, Then German agriculture will lose 30% to 40% of its production."
This is a wilted sunflower photographed near Pakóczd, Hungary, on Aug. 18. Hungary is suffering from an "unprecedented" drought, with at least hundreds of thousands of hectares of crops damaged and the Danube, Hungary's largest river, falling below half the average. Due to lack of water, in some places corn and sunflowers only grow to knee-high. (Xinhua News Agency, photo by Förtie Otilo)
Heat waves and droughts have also swept through eastern Europe. Hungary's agriculture minister, Najiş Śăồồng, said the country was suffering from an "unprecedented" drought, with 690,000 hectares of crops currently damaged, and this year's losses would be twice as much as the drought-induced losses of the past decade combined.
In an interview with Xinhua News Agency, Slovenian fruit and olive grower Vasha Yuretic said the drought had cut down local grass feed production and farmers had to reduce the number of livestock. Some perennial crops have been damaged by drought, which could create uncertainty for agricultural production in the coming year.