Drought conditions in much of Europe are continuing to substantially reduce yield outlooks for the EU’s summer crops.
According to the JRC MARS Bulletin – Crop monitoring in Europe – August 2022, the exceptionally hot and dry weather conditions are having a particular impact on grain maize, which is back 8.6% at EU level and is 16% below the five-year average.
Sunflower yields are expected to be around 12% behind the five-year average. Soya bean yield is reported to be down 9.6% at EU level.
However, the weather conditions benefited the harvesting of winter crops, which contributed to a slight improvement of the yield forecast for these crops.
According to the report, Spain; France; central and northern Italy; central Germany; Hungary; Romania; Slovenia; and Croatia are among the most severely affected regions in Europe.
Water and heat stress periods partly coincided with the sensitive flowering stage and grain filling, which resulted in irreversibly lost yield potential.
Several countries have imposed measures to restrict water use for irrigation.
In parts of Italy and Spain very low water levels in reservoirs have been insufficient to meet demand and the irrigation of some fields has been abandoned.
The report noted that the harvest in Ireland is “progressing well under favourable weather conditions”, with yield forecasts remaining practically unchanged compared to the July bulletin.
47% of the EU is still under a drought warning, meaning that precipitation has been less than usual and soil moisture is in deficit.
17% of the EU is deemed to be in alert status, whereby vegetation and crops are showing the negative effects of drought.
Cumulatively, 64% of Europe is under warning or alert, which is also contributing to spread widely the areas of fire danger across the EU.
According to JRC experts, the current drought still appears to be the worst in at least 500 years.
EU Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel, said that the conditions have caused “unprecedented stress” on water supplies in the entire EU.
“Climate change is undoubtedly more noticeably every year; the European Commission and its scientists are working tirelessly to map and study this crisis with the best technology available, from the space and on the ground, and are leading the efforts to protect our environment and our citizens from emergencies,” the commissioner stated.