Drought in southern Europe is pushing some EU member states to seek emergency aid for agriculture.
They are asking Brussels to open up the bloc's so-called agricultural reserve worth €450m to support farmers in exceptional times. Spain's Minister of Agriculture, Luis Planas, said: "This year we are seeing, in the case of Spain, a decrease of more than 30% since the beginning of the hydrological year in rainfall.
"This has direct consequences from the point of view of animal feeding on pastures. It also has consequences from the point of view of the winter harvests that could not be completed.”
He continued: "It also has consequences for spring crops, which in some cases have not been able to be sown and they also have consequences on irrigation, which has a lower yield."
A joint report from Portugal, France, Italy, and Spain stated that by the end of April, 21.6% of the EU's territory was in a 'warning situation', with 3.2% in an 'alert situation'. Portugal and Spain are bearing the brunt of low rainfall, but there are also reports that Baltic and Scandinavian countries are experiencing drier than usual soil.
Between October, 2022, and April, 2023, Spain' rainfall was 24% below average, while in France, 26 departments out of 101 were at high-risk of drought by the end of summer this year.
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In Portugal, the drought situation had a negative impact on agricultural activities across more than 40% of its mainland territory, as well as in Italy, where drought and flooding have damaged animal farming, vineyards, cereal crops, fruit and vegetable production.
The reduction in river flow levels is also causing salt-wedge estuaries to rise from the sea in the Po delta in Northern Italy, making the waters unusable for agricultural needs.
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