Vienna farmers report severe harvest losses from drought

Months of heat and drought have caused severe harvest losses for farmers in Vienna, ORF reported, affecting crops including pumpkins, sunflowers and soybeans. Farmers are calling for financial support.

At the Prentlhof farm in Unterlaa, Vienna’s 10th district, the sunflower field has dried out. The plants are nearly a month ahead of their normal development and will be harvested in about two weeks.

Pumpkins at the farm are already ripe and will not grow any larger, farmer Markus Sandbichler told ORF’s Wien heute programme. In a typical harvest year, they would be three to four times their current size, resulting in a loss of almost 75 percent. Sandbichler said the farm, which is about 200 years old, had never experienced such a dry year.

The Vienna Chamber of Agriculture expects losses of around 30 percent for greenhouse-grown fruiting vegetables, particularly tomatoes, peppers, aubergines and cucumbers. High temperatures are affecting both the plants and pollination. Bumblebees used in greenhouses are less active in extreme heat, while the plants are also suffering, limiting fruit formation.

The impact is especially clear in tomatoes. A cluster that would normally produce five or six fruits is currently often producing only about two. The fruits are also smaller and weigh less than in normal years.

Water supplies are not yet the biggest problem for greenhouse crops, according to the chamber. However, some wells in Vienna have already dried up because of the prolonged lack of rain. Vienna’s vineyards have also suffered damage, with the chamber forecasting losses of 30 to 40 percent if there is no significant rainfall.

Calls for drought assistance are growing in Vienna, although little progress has been made in the wider debate over support for farmers. Sandbichler said insurance was important but could not cover every extreme year. He warned that another dry winter could lead to even greater losses next year.