War in Ukraine: Vegetable growers in Europe warn of shortages due to energy crisis

The farmers are shutting down production this winter due to high energy prices, further threatening an already-crisis global food supply. From the North to Western Europe the cultivators of vegetables are thinking of “freezing” their activities due to the economic blow from the energy crisis due to the war in Ukraine, thereby further threatening food supplies.

THE Emmanuel Lefebvre produces thousands of tons every year bye on his farm in northern France, but this year he is likely to stop their culture because of the excessive energy cost required to freeze bulbs from harvest. THE price increase of natural gas and electricity will have a negative impact on crops grown during the winter in heated greenhouses – such as tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers – and those that require cold storage – such as apples, onions and endives.

Andies especially require a lot to grow energy. After the bulbs are harvested in the fall, they are stored in sub-zero temperatures and then replanted in temperature-controlled containers to allow year-round production. “We are really wondering if we will harvest everything in the fields this winter,” Lefebvre told Reuters.

The Europeans farmers warn of shortages. The expected output hit and rising prices mean supermarkets are likely to turn to supplies from warmer countries such as Morocco, Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt. As they say, natural gas is the biggest expense greenhouse vegetable farmers face. At the same time, two French farmers, when renewing their contracts for the electricity for 2023, they say they have been asked for sums more than ten times higher than in 2021.

“Within the next few weeks I will make my plans for the season, but I don’t know what to do,” says Benjamin Simoneau-De Vos, who grows cucumbers, tomatoes and strawberries south of Paris. “If it stays like this, there’s no point in continuing another year. It is not sustainable,” he adds, reports the Athens News Agency.

HEADING SOUTH

Farmers do not face problems only because of its increasing prices energy. The cost of fertilizers, packaging and transportation of their products is also increased. “We face an overall increased cost of production of around 30%”, of which half or two-thirds of this is for energy, explains Johannes Gross, sales manager at the German consortium Reichenau-Gemüse whose greenhouses cover around 600 hectares. “Some colleagues are thinking of leaving them empty greenhouse them to keep costs as low as possible. No one knows what will happen next year,” he notes.

Greenhouse network Glastuinbouw Nederland says up to 40% of its 3,000 members are in dire financial straits. Even in sunny countries like Spain, fruit and vegetable growers are facing an increase 25% on cost of fertilizers.

Jack Ward, head of the British Growers Association, says it is inevitable that fruit and vegetable production will shift to warmer climates. “We will move the production further and further south, towards the Spain and to Morocco and to parts of Africa,” concludes Ward.