Agricultural activity absorbs 70% of the demand for water that is consumed and, in the midst of a drought, the Catalan countryside is sown with misgivings and fears. The lack of rain has jeopardized this season’s crops and threatens to leave an economic hole in a sector that has shivering accounts. There is uncertainty about whether it will be possible to irrigate this summer and, from the start, the possibility of making a second cereal harvest is considered lost, which implies a downward loss of 25 million euros. Seeing the scenario, the fruit producers have activated the alarm lights in the face of doubts as to whether it will be possible to complete the harvest campaign for peaches, apples and pears.
Jaume Gardeñes operates 45 hectares of land in La Noguera, Lleida. He is mainly dedicated to apples and pears, and is a representative of the Unió de Pagesos union. “We do not have any forecast for how long it will be possible to irrigate,” he says. “Nobody wanted to get wet, neither the Generalitat nor those who manage the irrigation canals,” he laments. He affirms that “if it doesn’t rain, the fruit campaign will not be able to be saved.” He takes it for granted that if the storms do not appear during the months of April and May, it will be impossible to extend the irrigation during the summer. The harvest of peaches, nectarines, apples and pears starts in June but lasts until September, and the trees require regular watering so as not to wither. A hectare of fruit trees needs between 9,000 and 10,000 cubic meters of water to be operational and producers fear that this summer the restrictions will reduce the flow to 2,000 cubic meters. Just enough for the trees to survive without withering.
Without fruit in the basket there is no profit or benefit, but the farmers have had to advance an investment of up to 10,000 euros per hectare to prune, prepare and fertilize the farms. Gardeñes tries to avoid giving figures so as not to anticipate the disaster, but he escapes the fact that there is an impact of “at least 400 million euros” at stake. He confesses to having “four weather applications” downloaded on his mobile, and the forecasts he observes do not encourage his optimism. “I’m not a believer, but if I went through Montserrat, I’m sure she would light a candle to make it rain,” he says.
Santi Caudevilla is dedicated to the extensive cultivation of cereals. The harvest of the winter crops, barley, wheat and rye, is just around the corner, but he gives up being able to replant corn, sunflower or soybeans during the summer to harvest again in the fall. He affirms that the strip that joins Lleida and Aragón is “one of the few areas in Europe, if not the only one” capable of achieving two annual harvests. “What we do here is not done by anyone,” defends Caudevilla. An achievement that becomes unfeasible without water. That the affected area, an area of 25,000 hectares, is left without a second harvest implies a downward economic impact of 25 million euros.
The Lleida region concentrates almost half of the agricultural area in Catalonia and is the leading area in Spain in terms of fruit production. Its dependence on water is absolute. The Generalitat claims to have little margin and hides behind the fact that the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation (CHE) monopolizes the powers in that territory. CHE technicians attended a conference this week in Mollerussa (Lleida), at the headquarters of the Urgell Canal irrigation community, and warned that the situation is “very bad” and that it is necessary to wait and see how the weather evolves during the months of April and May before deciding whether to impose more restrictive measures.
The straits with water have sharpened the debate about the efficiency of irrigation systems in agriculture. Blanket irrigation, or by flooding, resists as a widely implemented practice in most farms, which implies an intensive and uncontrolled use of water. Betting on a sprinkler or drip irrigation system implies a saving of 15% of consumption, but entails costs of 6,000 euros per hectare, an outlay that in a sector weighed down by aging not everyone is willing to assume.
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“We are accused of wasting water by irrigating the blanket, and that is not the case. Because if we all used sprinkler and drip irrigation, many wells could not be filled with the water that seeps through the ground”, says Jaume Gardeñes. And then he entrusts himself to heaven. “I hope that in these two months it will rain, many times Holy Week has been rainy.”
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