May 20, 2022

 

French grain crops damaged by drought, substantial rain needed by June

 

 

Arvalis, a crop technical institute, said grain crops in some parts of France have been damaged by a drought in the country, and substantial rain is needed by early June for crops in key producing areas to pull through, Reuters reported.

 

France, the biggest grain producer in the European Union, has been affected by dry weather for the past few months. The country has recorded high temperatures in May, an important month for winter crop development, which has pushed wheat prices up in recent weeks as concerns rise over a worldwide grain shortage.

 

Jean-Charles Deswarte, an agronomist at crop institute Arvalis, said in France, there will be two conditions coexisting. First, shallow to medium soils, where obviously the crops have already suffered and will not recover, and yields will be quite low.

 

The other is irrigated circumstances or deep soils where, for the time being, they continue to believe that things will work out positively since, if not excessive, dry weather contributes to fewer illnesses and helpful radiation.

 

Deep soil regions are largely found in northern France, accounting for almost half of the country's grain production.

 

Deswarte said substantial rain of 30-50 millimeters (1.2-2.0 inches) by early next month is a must for those key producing regions, and that water restrictions that limit irrigation were rising in the country.

 

Between March and June, it generally rains roughly 200 millimetres, but thus far just 50-60 millimetres have fallen, he said.

Deswarte said with the hydrological projections that Meteo France gives today for the end of May and early June, there will be a huge section of plots in France that will be irreversibly harmed by then.

 

According to Deswarte, nearly a third of the crop potential had already been lost in locations with shallow to mid-level soils, with loss on some parcels approaching 50%.

 

He said that it was too early to make a national projection.

 

Water use would be critical for spring crops, which are still in the early stages of growth, he said.

 

Deswarte said there's no plant without water whether its corn, sunflowers or sorghum, adding that many farmers were utilising their irrigation quota to save their wheat harvests.

 

In the case of impending water shortages, the French environment ministry warned on Thursday that new water restrictions will be enforced.

 

-      Reuters