Drought Begins To Take Its Toll On Crops in Southwestern Europe

Foreign media, February 22 news: The February report released by the European crop monitoring agency MARS shows that winter crops and pastures are in good condition in most of Europe. Significant rainfall deficits have occurred over large areas in central and western Europe, but so far the negative impact on winter crops and pastures has been limited.

However, in southern and southwestern parts of the European Mediterranean region, a persistent lack of rain has led to drought. Based on current weather forecasts, below-normal rainfall in these areas is likely to continue in the coming months, which could negatively impact yields. Of these, southern Portugal, southern Spain, southeastern France and northwestern Italy were worst affected by the drought. The soil moisture in these areas is lower than the seasonal average, and the water storage in the reservoirs is also far below the storage capacity. Above-average rainfall is needed in the coming weeks and months to avoid further negative impacts.

In northern Germany, western Poland, Denmark and the UK, above-average winter temperatures may favour pest survival and lead to increased stress on crops later in the year. No serious frost damage has occurred in the region so far, although crop resistance remains weak in most of Western and Central Europe. The frost resistance of crops in Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic is significantly below average, but forecasts do not point to extremely low temperatures in the region, the report said. Excessive rainfall in central Turkey and western Russia put pressure on crops.