First there were fuel prices, then the lack of supplies due to the war in Ukraine, and now the drought. It seems difficult to make food cheaper in this context.
Shopping has become a headache for many families; Food prices have not stopped rising since autumn 2021. First there were fuel prices and the logistical blockade following the Covid-19 pandemic, then the lack of stocks of grains and fertilizers due to the war in Ukraine.
Over the past year, the price of oil has risen by more than 30%, eggs and milk by 25%, bread and cereals by more than 19%, and so on.
The VAT reduction introduced by the government at the beginning of the year and the fall in the prices of fuels and fertilizers showed that the trend was about to reverse. However, another factor has come into play: the dryness.
Although at first glance the fields of many valleys of alava they are green, and anyone who pauses to take a closer look realizes that if there is not enough rain in the coming weeks, hardly anything can be removed from fields such as wheat, barley and rapeseed.
In some valleys, they have already declared these crops lost. In the words of Josu Hernández, a technician from the Garlan cooperative, grain crops will be at least 40% scarcer, while oilseed rape has already been completely lost in the Valdegovía area.
On the other hand, farmers are currently immersed in planting summer crops: potato, beetroot, legumes… They are irrigated crops and, after a drier than normal winter, the reservoirs they are a bit emptier than other years. It is likely that there will not be enough water to irrigate all the acres that are commonly planted.
Faced with this situation, most farmers choose to sow less and invest just enough to cover the costs. Then it remains to be seen whether what has been sown will actually grow. So that seems pretty obvious the supply of grains and vegetables of our fields will be minor the upcoming months.
Experts in economics are clear in this regard: if the principle of supply and demand on which the market is based is met, it will difficult for food prices to reverse their upward trend in the short and medium term.
Source: EITB
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
