Drinking Water

Fruit trees in Luxembourg are currently under significant stress, especially those bearing fruit, due to persistent heat and drought. Jean-Claude Muller, President of the Luxembourg Fruit Growers' Association, delivered this message during the association's general assembly on Friday evening. The harvest remains uncertain, with growers already witnessing fruit dropping prematurely and facing the risk of sunburn damaging their produce.[1]

Sunburn is not only a problem for people, but also for fruit. When an apple is exposed to the sun all day, the surface can reach temperatures of over 60 or even 70 degrees. The apple literally burns, turns brown, and begins to rot. While sunlight helps fruit develop sweetness, it only does so if trees receive enough water. The lack of rainfall means many orchards now have to irrigate, often relying on drinking water. Growers regret this necessity and would prefer alternative solutions.[1]

Muller advocated for better water management, urging that surplus rainwater should be collected and stored during wetter periods so it can be used in times of drought, and strongly appealed to policymakers to prioritise this issue. Agriculture Minister Martine Hansen acknowledged that the matter falls under the environmental portfolio, but stressed that both fruit and vegetable growers urgently need water and that it must be made easier to authorise water reservoirs.[1]

Apples burning at 60 degrees. Fruit dropping before it is ripe. Drinking water poured into orchards because there is no other water. The farmers are using drinking water to grow fruit, and the drinking water is drinking water, which means it is the water that people drink. The fruit growers want reservoirs. The reservoirs would collect rainwater when it rains and store it for when it does not. The rain has stopped. The reservoirs are not built. The apples are burning. Earlier this month, half the corn crop was threatened by drought, water levels hit record lows, and river extraction was banned. The drought is not in one crop. It is in the ground. The ground is dry, and the apples are burning, and the farmers are pouring drinking water on them, and the minister says it must be easier to build reservoirs, and the reservoirs are not built yet.[1]