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.
The exceptionally wet rainy season in South Africa allowed rapid breeding of brown locusts and led to the biggest infestation the country has seen in decades. In December 2021, many parts of the country experienced the heaviest rains since records began in 1921.
Unseasonably cold weather hit parts of Europe over the past weekend, following warmer-than-normal temperatures in previous weeks that caused rapid greening of flora. Damage to agriculture is widespread but it seems it’s not as bad as it was last year when a similar cold episode happened. The worst affected countries were France, Germany, Spain and Austria.
Photos from the Kingdom of Tonga show streets and buildings covered in heavy ash after the massive eruption at Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai on January 15, 2022. While streets and roofs can be cleared, tsunami waves, up to 15 m (49 feet) in some places, and heavy…
