Intermoney | Italy starts the spring season affected by drought in the northern part of the country and higher than expected temperatures during the winter months. Authorities estimate a water deficit between 50%-90% compared to 2021, with particular declines in the Piedmont and Veneto regions. The Po river has suffered falls of more than three meters in certain points, which, together with the distortion caused by the unseasonal heat to the regular crop cycles, threatens more than 30% of the national agricultural production. Thus, some fruits and vegetables ripen earlier than expected affected by these temperatures, while cereals such as corn, sunflower and soybeans face difficult sowing affected by dry and hard soils.
Opinion: Warmer than expected temperatures during the winter could lead to early flowering, which, if coupled with an also warm spring, could be a cause for concern with the alarm of late spring frosts that kill flowers putting fruit at risk. However, the lack of rainfall is not alarming, and flowering in the area is not expected to arrive until April/May, when the olive trees begin to bloom at average temperatures above 20 ºC.
Higher than expected harvests in regions such as Portugal or Tunisia, together with higher production in Italy, and in line with 2021 in Spain, augur a total production of +7% compared to 2021, reaching a total of 3.1mn tons.
