Strongly contrasting weather conditions in Europe affect crops in multiple ways

23.05.2023 571 views

Although crops were affected in many areas a fair yield outlook is maintained in most regions, except in the Iberian Peninsula.

Worsened conditions in the Iberian Peninsula 

Continued and intensified drought conditions in the Iberian Peninsula further worsened the outlook for crops in Spain and Portugal. In both countries, the yield forecast for all main crops have dropped to well below last year’s poor level. Details on the drought in the Maghreb region can be found in the JRC MARS bulletin on North Africa.

Wet conditions in many other parts of Europe delays summer crops but improves soil moisture levels 

A distinct rainfall surplus and/or colder than usual conditions caused delays to the sowing of summer crops and impaired other field operations in a large belt extending from Ireland to Bulgaria and Ukraine. An important positive aspect of the rainfall surplus is that, from a crop-water supply perspective, soil moisture and ground water levels in most of the areas affected are currently at a very favourable level for this time of year.

While north-western Italy is recovering from the drought reported in April, extreme rainfall events in the north-east caused locally severe loss of production of wheat and barley and substantial damage to permanent crops

Yield forecasts remain at fair level

Despite the exceptionally contrasting weather conditions experienced, a fair yield outlook is maintained in most EU regions. Downward revisions in the table below are mainly due to the worsened outlook in Spain and Portugal.

Source - https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu

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