A period of abnormally low temperatures in Romania has weakened its crop supply and left the agricultural industry at risk.
What's happening?
While Romania typically cultivates around 3.7 million tons of fruits and vegetables each year, according to Romania Insider, the recent frost destroyed hectares upon hectares of agricultural yield.
Temperatures sat between 17 and 38 degrees Fahrenheit for almost a week at the beginning of April. While frosts aren't unusual in Romanian winters, they are rarely this severe and this prolonged, noted FreshPlaza.
With fruit and vegetable supply low, the Fruleg-Ro agricultural association anticipates rising food prices and an increased national reliance on imported groceries as the industry attempts to restabilize in the coming years.
Why is Romania's crop failure concerning?
A crop decline not only means higher food costs but also may put agricultural workers out of employment as the country turns to external sources for groceries. Unless these fruit and vegetable orchards receive funding for restoration, they may not recover, Fruleg-Ro noted, marking a perhaps permanent agricultural shift for the worse.
"An abandoned orchard, to which specific conservation works are not applied, has minimal chances of recovery, even in a subsequent favourable meteorological context," the release explained.
Romania isn't the only region to have experienced crop insecurity in recent years. Japan, Spain, and the U.S., among others, have encountered similar difficulties for a variety of weather-related reasons, from flooding to drought.
As our planetary temperatures continue to rise as a result of carbon pollution, driving atypical climate patterns and intensifying weather events, food insecurity becomes more and more of a global inevitability.
What's being done about crop insecurity?
Agricultural associations such as Fruleg-Ro have already begun to put pressure on the Romanian government to fund desperately needed conservation efforts. But while financial support can provide relief to a struggling industry, the only way to prevent long-term damage from repeated weather catastrophes is to tackle climate change at the source.
Around the world, efforts to lower carbon pollution by reducing dirty energy consumption at both industrial and household levels are a step in the right direction. For your part, you can opt for solar panels and public transportation to reduce reliance on fuel-based power.
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Not enough time ⏳ Meanwhile, if you're concerned about food insecurity in your area, you can support your local conservation causes and try to shop more mindfully at your grocery store.
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