“No region is spared. Every day that passes, we see the soil cracking. Even in the North, the cereals are thirsty. If it continues like this, those who have the possibility of irrigating will get by, the others will have dramatic drops in yield,” warned Christiane Lambert on Monday. Guest of Jean-Pierre Elkabbach on Saturday, the president of the National Federation of Farmers’ Unions (FNSEA), confirmed these words: “We are really in situations of proven drought in many territories. When we hear the weather with temperatures like 29 to 32 degrees, it’s quite unimaginable in May, it’s unheard of.”
Occitanie, the Rhône Valley, Loire-Atlantique, Pays de Loire, Poitou-Charentes too, the Great West, the Vosges are the regions and departments most affected by this drought.
“The month of May is a pivotal month, it is the month when the vegetation restarts. The sun is there, very strong, too strong. There is a combination of absence of water and high heat. And that, it’s difficult for nature. The novelty is that these droughts are happening earlier and earlier. We were used to it in a way in July but here, in May, it’s quite catastrophic”, she asserted.
A yield loss of 30%
The lack of water leads to a complicated period for wheat and barley, which are more advanced in cultivation. “The wheat is at the bolting stage, the ear is forming and rising in the stem. If it is slowed down by a lack of water, it will be smaller, and therefore there will be fewer grains,” he said. – she continued. A situation that could affect yields by 20 to 30%, concludes Christiane Lambert.