Post by AGRANA Group

Soil and water are infrastructure – not scenery. On the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought (17 June), a sober finding: the EU Drought Observatory again flags water stress across Europe's growing regions – from Poland and the Baltics to France and Iberia. Not an outlier – a pattern. In Austria, a current study by Technische Universität Wien, GeoSphere Austria and Universität für Bodenkultur Wien confirms what farmers have long been feeling in the field: climate change is fundamentally reshaping the water balance. Groundwater levels have dropped by an average of 30 to 50 centimetres over the past decade – a trend that is continuing. Environment Minister Totschnig speaks of consequences for drinking water, food production and ecosystems. orf.at That is precisely why, in March 2026, we hosted the Vienna Soil Dialog – together with International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), FAS Research and Raiffeisen Bank International AG. The question is urgent: how does soil become strategic infrastructure? Those who want to secure tomorrow's raw-material base must invest today in soil health, humus build-up and water management – not only when a summer reshapes the map. Vienna Soil Dialog results: https://lnkd.in/dqAF8jwG EU drought situation: https://lnkd.in/dKjnzqMU #AGRANA #SoilHealth #Water #Resilience #FoodSecurity #Drought