2023-06-18 06:17:00
Melon and watermelon season is fast approaching. The first fruits are already arriving on our stalls and some are of Belgian origin! This may seem surprising since these are usually fruits grown in the south, where the climate is warmer… But with the heat waves that we have been experiencing for a few years now in Belgium, farmers are testing new crops.
This type of exploitation is still anecdotal in Wallonia: it actually represents a few hectares out of the 750,000 available in the south of Belgium. But a change is taking place. The north-south border is changing and we are now able to cultivate, in our latitudes, vegetables and fruits accustomed to southern climates. This was not possible 10 to 15 years ago.
“We realize, very slowly, that the south of France, mainly the Drôme which was a big grower of stone fruits, such as peaches, apricots and cherries… They are having more and more trouble because they have pests that come from the south and then droughts and extreme temperatures that make cultivation more and more difficult. And there, now, we can see that in Hesbaye, at home, we manage to cultivate these fruits- there. All the productions are going up, the north-south limit is slowly changing”analyzes Laurent Born, farmer in the province of Liège.
Not such good news
Local and seasonal fruits, this looks like good news, a priori! “The climate lends itself better and better to all these so-called ‘southern’ crops because the springs are warmer, the summers are hotter too. And that even allows us to arrive with varieties that are a little later, and therefore which have more yield and which are more like the watermelons that can really be found in the south”continues Laurent Born.
These are really changes that are very sudden and very unmanageable
But this farmer, we must not rejoice too quickly. Even if he has been growing watermelons for 10 years, he reminds us that this climatic upheaval is far from being positive for agriculture. “I would even say that it is a disaster, because we are not yet sufficiently used to these climatic changes. And these changes are not regular either”, he said. Example with the month of May and its gloomy weather. While June is hot and very dry. “These are really changes that are very sudden and very unmanageable.”
Moreover, the sector considers that Belgium does not have enough perspective to be able to manage these periods of heat. Our soils and infrastructures do not allow it, especially in terms of irrigation, an area in which Belgium does not excel.
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