Nearly 500 000 people in Jiangxi province were affected by heavy rains from Friday to Sunday, May 5 – 7, 2023, leading to the evacuation of around 14 000 residents and causing an estimated 520 million yuan ($75.2 million) in direct economic losses. China’s State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters launched a level-IV emergency response for flood control on May 6. Rescue operations are underway.
Ireland experienced its wettest March on record last month, with 173.3 mm (6.8 inches) or 169% of the average for the month. The wettest March followed on from what was confirmed provisionally as the fourth driest February on record. Before last month, the previous wettest March was in 2019.
Rice production for 2023 is set to log its largest shortfall in two decades, according to Fitch Solutions. This severe global deficit is primarily driven by the ongoing war in Ukraine, and weather-related challenges in major rice-producing countries like China and Pakistan.
Unseasonal rains, hailstorms, and strong winds damaged more than 523 000 ha (1 292 332 acres) of wheat crop in three Indian states, causing harvesting challenges and fears of significant yield losses. The untimely rains have also affected mustard, channa, barley, and vegetable crops, among others.
French National Federation of Farmers’ Unions (FNSEA) is warning the country will most likely have a shortage of milk in the coming months as a result of the severe drought affecting the country.
Spain is expected to produce its lowest volume of fruit in the last 40 years due to frost that hit its fruit-production regions in early April, especially the Ebro Valley – one of the most important producing areas of sweet fruit in Europe.
A severe hailstorm struck Murcia, Spain on May 2, 2022, causing major damage to the apricot crop. The Region of Murcia is located in the southeast part of the Iberian Peninsula and produces two-thirds of Spain’s apricot. The storm comes one month after early April frost caused massive damage to stone fruit in Ebro valley, one of the most important producing areas of sweet fruit in Europe.
Between soaring food prices and feed shortages, the war in Ukraine has rocked the EU’s agri-food sector and thrown an age-old issue back into the limelight: food security.
A severe hailstorm lashed parts of north Kashmir on April 25, 2022, causing heavy damage to fruit orchards. This is the second damaging hailstorm to hit the region this month.
The cold wave that hit parts of Europe earlier this month seems to have spared the French producers of peaches and apricots, who were severely affected last year. However, it severely affected other European regions, especially the north of Spain where losses are currently estimated at more than 50 million Euro, on top of 11 million caused by persistent rains.
