“More than a hundred towns in France no longer have water today”. This is what the Minister of Ecological Transition Christophe Béchu indicated on Friday August 5, 2022. The drought is beautiful and very present, and its consequences are felt throughout the territory. Daily life, agriculture, sport… The lack of water and the persistent heat spared nothing and no one.
For some researchers, this event is not isolated and in fact corresponds to a new reality. “We are more on a climatic hazard every ten years. In recent years, every year, a new event affects agriculture,” explains Philippe Debaeke, research director at the National Research Institute for Agriculture, food and the environment, to our colleagues at the Huffington Post.
For farmers and professionals in the field, concern reigns and it is necessary to find solutions. Some have already been considered, or even already implemented, like the technique of sowing earlier. For the cultivation of maize, this has been the case for about ten years in France, and this new calendar has even made it possible to increase the yield.
However, this trick may not be enough because, with global warming and the intensification of heat waves each year, the demand for water from crops increases to compensate for evaporation from the leaves. And, at the same time, the drought uses up this resource, and therefore it is necessary to find effective solutions.
Some fruits and vegetables are particularly affected by the weather and have seen their quantity and quality decrease. The price of these products could therefore increase and they could even be subject to shortages in the future. Discover them in our slideshow.
