The Royal Meteorological Institute, IRM, has confirmed the exceptional nature of this summer's drought in Wallonia, an initial step towards having it recognised as an agricultural disaster.
The institute indicated in a report submitted on Friday to Walloon Agriculture Minister Willy Borsus that the estimated return period for the two variables studied -cumulative rainfall and number of dry days during the period - exceeded 20 years for the entire Walloon Region.
Borsus had asked the IRM for a report on the drought that affected Wallonia in July and August, as a precondition for recognising it as an agricultural disaster.
"I received the opinion of the IRM on Friday," he said on Tuesday at a committee meeting in Parliament. "It indicates that the drought of July and August 2022 is of an exceptional nature."
However, other criteria need to be examined before an agricultural disaster can be declared, since the intervention of the agricultural disaster fund depends on compliance with financial criteria and the 30%-damage criteria, he recalled.
"It is only after all the reports confirming the damage are received that the calculation can be carried out. That will not be before the end of the year," Borsus warned.
