FRANCE: The recent heatwave in France has affected many aspects of society including the French plate. After news about the premature heat-related deaths of millions of prize chickens, the death by suffocation of much of the country's trout stocks and the withering of thousands of hectares of fruit trees, the latest cause of the French gourmet's annus horribilis looks certain to be the truffle.
Although the harvest will not begin for two months, truffle farmers are already warning that the powerful heatwave has destroyed at least half their crop. Producers have warned that by Christmas the price may be double its normal level, reaching a record-breaking €1,000 a kilogram. "We have to be pessimistic," said Guy Dehler, president of the Pyrenees branch of the truffle growers' federation. "This has been a catastrophic year." Exceptionally dry weather in May and June meant that few truffle spores germinated; the unprecedented temperatures in July and August meant that those few truffles which had begun to develop were unable to mature.
Experts have warned that it may take years for the production to recover from the drought. Despite advances in the science of truffle production, the cultivation of the fungus remains extremely precarious and labour intensive. A century ago, France produced about 1,500 tonnes every year, but the business is in radical decline. Many truffle producers were killed in the two world wars; later in the 1950s and 1960s others abandoned their orchards and migrated to the cities. Now even in a good year only 35 tonnes are produced.
For commercial production, truffle microbes are introduced into the roots of oak trees before they are planted and, around seven years later, the fungus should be ready for harvesting, but the success rate hovers between 10 per cent and 20 per cent. - (Guardian Service)