Crops that should have been harvested, instead are being fed to animals as Portugal’s drought continues to hit the agricultural sector, especially in southern Portugal which dried out three months earlier than usual.
The Minister of Agriculture, Capoulas Santos, now has signed a key document to confirm that these drought conditions are official and to enable farmers to apply for financial help.
Capoulas Santos reports that the 2016/2017 hydrological year was characterised by "a deficit of precipitation, with average and maximum temperatures far above normal," - in other words, it’s hot and there’s been no rain.
The drought has been building up since the beginning of Spring which had heat waves, low rainfall and hence, low water levels in dams.
In agricultural terms, the Santos document states, that there is a sharp reduction in forage crops and available pasture and that both will run out this summer.
Capoulas Santos also noted a drop in grain production and said that that the lack of available irrigation water has led to a reduction in areas sown with rice, corn, tomatoes, melon and potatoes.
Now this document is signed, farmers can be compensated for the losses caused by the drought.
There’s always someone that will sell you water, at a price, and the Alqueva reservoir management body says farmers need only apply.
The Alqueva Multipurpose Enterprise (EFMA), has decided to allow famers access to its water, held in the massive Alqueva reservoir. This will be for livestock and, where technically possible, for the emergency irrigation of crops.
Farmers wanting water can go to the company headquarters in Beja, to see if there is a near-by access point to which water can be delivered.
This will help those farmers able to afford the extra expense and whose farms are within the wider Alqueva reservoir delivery area.
Many farmers are praying for rain but the hot, dry weather is predicted to continue for weeks.
Comments
Growing crops requires really huge quantities of water, and the value of those crops when harvested is not high enough to pay for it unless the water is cheap.
That's just the economics of agriculture.
The Santa Clara reservoir in Beja is still supplying irrigation water to regular users as usual. The canal running to Rogil is at normal flow, with hundreds of tons falling into the Atlantic daily at the end.