Shortages of key crops including vegetables have been predicted this winter after the Government officially declared drought conditions across part of England.
The Environment Agency has classified eight of the 14 areas of England as being in a drought, while a number of water companies including Anglian Water, Southern Water and South West Water have not yet introduced hosepipe bans.
According to The Guardian, documents leaked following a meeting of the National Drought Group have expressed concerns about agricultural productivity. The group was told “irrigation options are diminishing with reservoirs being emptied fast,” and losses of 10-50% are expected for crops including carrots, onions, sugar beet, apples and hops. Farmers are also believed to be delaying decisions about autumn planting and drilling.
NFU deputy president Tom Bradshaw told newspapers, “We have members who can’t abstract irrigation water but still in East Anglia there is no hosepipe ban. We can’t believe that we aren’t allowed to irrigate to grow the fruit and vegetables the country needs but there is no ban on excessive consumer use. Consumers need to have a bit more flexibility because potatoes might be a bit smaller, onions might be a little bit smaller.”
Tim Elcombe, Chairman of British Onions, warned, “We have had a relentless period of hot, dry weather, we had just about gotten over the first heatwave but we now are faced with more high temperatures. Most of the early sets are in, but growers have run out of water and have had to stop or reduce irrigation.
“We are already predicting lower yields, a reduction 20-25% which means volumes will be down by around 100,000 tonnes. It is a really telling time with so many permutations such as big increases in cost, combined with low yields and high irrigation costs and high, unpredictable storage costs. We are not sure how it will all pan out, but it will certainly be a tough season for all growers and not only onion growers.”