Food and products that have increased the price due to the drought in Spain in 2023

The lack of rainfall strongly affects the Spanish countryside. One of the main consequences that it entails is the increase in the prices of products in supermarkets. According to thea Coordinator of Organizations of Farmers and Ranchers (COAG), 60% of the land is suffocated by drought and suffer losses that can become “irreversible”. The most affected are the rainfed plots and there are already 3.5 million hectares of cereals that run the risk of becoming unproductive.

In Andalusia, Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha and Murcia and the most arid areas of Aragon, Catalonia and Castilla y León, the wheat and barley crops are considered lost. Nuts or rainfed vineyards suffer from sprouting problems and in irrigated fields summer crops are also in danger. Given the lack of water, the production of corn, sunflower, rice and cotton will be reduced. If it does not rain, the production of livestock products and honey is in danger, since what has been planted does not flourish and prevents the animals from feeding.

Cereal, one of the most affected

Cereals are one of the products most affected by the drought suffered by Spain, which is why prices will rise. The COAG informs that in Andalusia the cereal is lost, with the exception of the coolest areas, but the production only reaches 30%. The situation in Murcia is also serious and in Extremadura the losses exceed 90%. In Aragon and the Community of Madrid, if it doesn’t rain soon, the cereal will spoil.

In Castilla y León and La Rioja an exceptional situation has been reached in which the cereal has begun to be irrigated, which is not normally done in those areas and in Catalonia it is only possible to harvest cereal on irrigated land.

Olive oil, shot

The price rise in the last year of olive oil in the latest March CPI data they were 32.1%, but it already reached a record price last January, in which the kilo of oil was paid 150% more expensive than a year ago.

Vineyards, olive groves and fruit trees

If the drought persists, the prices of products derived from woody crops will rise. If it doesn’t rain in La Rioja, it will be a difficult situation for the vineyards, since it would be the second year of drought. In Murcia and Extremadura, the situation is also worrying, since if the rains do not arrive, the woody trees will spoil and their prices will increase in supermarkets.

The fruit trees of Castilla-La Mancha subsist thanks to the water reserves, so the trees could endure. In Andalusia, legumes and sunflowers have a limited production due to the drought, so their prices will also be affected.