File Photo
Vienna: Fruit and vegetable harvests are down 30 and 40 percent respectively in Austria this year due to prolonged heat and drought over the summer, the Chamber of Agriculture said Friday.
Onions and carrots are down 25 percent compared to the previous year, while some crops such as white cabbage are down as much as 50 percent in certain regions, the LKOe said in a statement.
Apple harvests are still ongoing but are expected to be down around 35 percent, the chamber said.
Austria this year saw its hottest summer since records began, with temperatures averaging 2.6 degrees Celsius above the 1991-2020 average, according to national weather service GeoSphere Austria.
The country also endured extreme drought conditions, with rainfall around one-third below average nationwide.
Authorities reported widespread low groundwater levels and reduced river flows, while farming groups said drought and heat damaged crops across the country.
The president of the LKOe, Josef Moosbrugger, said the meagre harvest "clearly shows how severely fruit and vegetable production is suffering from the effects of climate change".
He said water was "increasingly becoming the key issue for our food production", calling for urgent "investments in future-proof water infrastructure" as well as measures to fight climate change.
The drought also led to a shortage of animal feed and a rise in the number of animals being slaughtered in August, the APA news agency reported Friday, citing figures from Agrarmarkt Austria (AMA).
Some 19 percent more cattle, 40.3 percent more calves and 56.2 percent more oxen were delivered to slaughterhouses than the previous year, the report said.
