Global warming brings challenges for everyone. Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) was concerned and found out more about individual areas.
Murr (dpa / lsw) - Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) sees droughts in the future as major challenges for agriculture. Kretschmann said on Wednesday in Murr (Ludwigsburg district) during a farm visit: "The enormous drought is stressing plants and animals. Soil and water are suffering." In order to support the farmers in adapting to the changed climatic conditions, the green-black state government is relying on an "Agricultural Strategy Dialogue". The kick-off event is planned for September 23.
According to the State Ministry, 40 percent of the area in the southwest is still used for agriculture, but more and more small farms are giving up. The small farm structures should be preserved. Kretschmann visited a farm that has been practicing organic farming for four decades. The chairman of the Working Group on Organic Farming in Baden-Württemberg, Marcus Arzt, said that organic farming contributes both to protecting the climate and to maintaining food security. "That's why every euro that the state government invests in the system is well invested."
Agriculture Minister Peter Hauk (CDU) said that agriculture was undergoing restructuring, the aim being more animal welfare and biodiversity. "It is important for me to emphasize that our domestic agriculture is an essential part of the solution for more climate and species protection."
On the Steinlach in Ofterdingen (Tübingen district), a tributary of the Neckar, Kretschmann found out about the low water situation. The head of government said: "So far, Baden-Württemberg has not been considered a country with a water shortage; that has been changing for a few years."
As climate change progresses, dry periods with summer water shortages are becoming more and more frequent. The Steinlach offers an impressive example of a river that is currently almost dried up. "Where the banks of the Steinlach are unpaved, they give the waters room to develop their own dynamics and thus ensure greater chances of survival for living beings in and on the waters during dry periods."
Kretschmann previously also dealt with the topics of urban planning and forest management in the context of climate change.
