These are the foods that could rise in price this summer due to the drought

A large percentage of Spain is on drought alert due to low rainfall. In fact, the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) has confirmed this week that last month became the warmest April since records began in 1961.. According to the latest reports from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge on the state of the drought, the month of March was “very dry” throughout the country, especially in areas of Aragon and Catalonia.. The situation of the reservoirs is dramatic, as they drop below 50% of their capacity and the effects of the drought are also being felt on crops.

The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, assured a few days ago that the lack of rain and the prolonged drought in agriculture could suppose “an inflationary factor” that, consequently, would impact food prices.

“Normally, this should lead to less supply, that is, to less production, as is happening to us, for example, now with olive oil in this campaign. And lower production means higher prices.. But all this must be seen product by product, market by market and, therefore, it is still too early to draw a consequence in this regard,” he indicated in this regard in statements to the SER chain collected by Servimedia.

Dry cereals, the most affected

Last Thursday, May 4, the general director of Consum, Juan Luis Durich, also warned that the drought could lead to a shortage in harvests and crops for the summer campaign. This would cause an increase in the prices of certain foods, especially rainfed products, such as oil, wheat or potatoes, he pointed out in statements collected by Europa Press.

And it is that the lack of rainfall has made it impossible for dryland cereals, such as wheat or rye, to develop this season, as usual, so their production will be lower. According to a recent report by the Coordinator of Farmers and Livestock Organizations (COAG), the drought “already suffocates 60% of the Spanish countryside and produces irreversible losses in more than 3.5 million hectares of dryland cereals.”

So much so that the wheat and barley crops in the regions of Andalusia, Extremadura, Castilla La Mancha and Murcia and in the driest areas of Aragon, Catalonia and Castilla y León have been “practically lost”.. But they will not be the only crops affected. “In irrigation, the restrictions on the supply of water are also worrying, which will surely reduce summer sowings,” they point out.. A situation that will cause many farmers to reduce the areas cultivated with rice, corn or sunflower.

Foods at risk in different regions

In the case of crops in Andalusia, all could be affected, due to the situation of this campaign, and “due to the deficit they carry from the previous campaign”. In fact, “in the Bajo Guadalquivir and Cádiz area, they are going to stop planting industrial tomatoes, other vegetables such as carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and there are also doubts about planting cotton, typical of these regions, due to the lack of of water”, warns the COAG.

In Castilla-La Mancha the situation is similar, since 100% of the crops and areas “are in a situation of drought”. In Castilla y León, “both winter and new cereals” are also compromised due to the lack of rain. As in Aragon, where the cereal situation is “very worrying.”

The COAG also highlights that extensive livestock, especially sheep, is being affected by the drought. “If it doesn't rain, there are no pastures to feed the sheep and this forces farmers to have to resort to buying feed and fodder to maintain their animals”. The situation for beekeepers is similar, since the lack of vegetation and flowering “prevents bees from being able to feed and produce honey.”

“Drought can have an effect on supply in a complicated market in which there are various circumstances that must be taken into account,” declared the Secretary General for Agriculture and Food, Fernando Miranda, on April 18.. Likewise, it warned that the supply of certain foods could be more scarce, although not all sectors of the chain would be affected in the same way by the impact of the drought, it concluded.