An association of farmers in Luxembourg has indicated that if the country relied solely on its own fruit production, its supply would have been exhausted as early as Tuesday. This highlights the need for increased support for local agriculture.
Despite having over 1,800 farms and utilizing more than 132,000 hectares of land for farming, the country majorly focuses on cattle and dairy farming or crop production for animal feed. This leaves Luxembourg with the capacity to supply a mere 2% of the fruit required for self-sufficiency, according to the Lëtzebuerger Landesuebstveräin, a local fruit growers' association.
The group lamented that local fruit production is only sufficient for nine days in a year, terming this as "unsatisfactory". The association also pointed out that importing fruit results in a higher carbon footprint and contributes to water scarcity in regions like southern Spain. Imported produce may also be governed by less stringent environmental and labour norms.
One of the key challenges faced by growers is the difficulty in obtaining permits to construct water storage facilities. Despite the country grappling with dry summers and drought risk, these facilities could be refilled with rainwater. The farmers believe that the rainy start to 2024, which caused floods last week, could have been utilized to store water for future use.
The Landesuebstveräin also revealed that pilot projects proposed to the previous government three years ago have been entangled in bureaucracy. The association is hopeful that the new coalition's pledge to simplify paperwork around water storage will be helpful.
While Luxembourg produces more beef and dairy than its population consumes, it underproduces pork, poultry, eggs, fruit and vegetables.
Source: luxtimes.lu