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European rice is doing badly. Hit hard by drought, particularly in Italy, the rice-growing regions of southern Europe will produce less this year. This will mean more imports to meet consumer demand.
With our special correspondent in the Camargue, Marie-Pierre Olphand
The harvest has not yet taken place, but we already know that European rice production will not be up to par this year. In question, the lack of water, which particularly affects Spain and Italy. ” There has not been enough snow in the mountains this winter and therefore the rivers are at very worrying low water levels for early July. All of our European partners are impacted at different levels, but which can represent up to 40 to 50% of overall production “, analyzes François Clément, director of the French Rice Center.
A production that is also impacted by too salty water. This is the first time that the sea lifts in the Po river in Italy or in the Rhône are so early in the season. However, at more than two grams of salt per liter, rice no longer offers the same yields.
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A blatant lack of support
To compensate for this fall in the coming harvest, Europe is therefore preparing to buy new rice purchases. ” This is surely the first year where we will be forced to import a lot more rice from Asia because there will be a shortage of almost a million tonnes in Europe this year (compared to the million that we already import, editor’s note). It will be almost two million tons of imports notes Bertrand Mazel, President of the Union of European Rice Producers.
Bertrand Mazel assures him, Europe would have the capacity to be technically self-sufficient in rice. Provided that we have greater support from public policies, local authorities, but also from consumers.
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