The Basque Country adopts measures for farmers and ranchers to prevent water scarcity

2023-05-19 13:38:31

The Basque Country will adopt measures in favor of the agricultural and livestock sector to deal with a water shortage that at the moment does not threaten the supply in the Basque Country, but that affects the primary sector and forces preventive measures to be taken in case the situation worsens, which in the case of Araba is more worrisome, as is the case in central and southern Spain. The Board of Agriculture and Climate Change of the Basque Government has met in Vitoria to adopt measures such as “optimize existing irrigation and put new systems where necessary, as well as encourage the production of fodder and its purchase outside the Basque Country if necessary”.

Chaired by the Minister of Economic Development, Sustainability and the Environment, Arantxa Tapia, they have carried out a diagnosis of the situation that concludes that irrigated and dry land are affected by the lack of water that already caused a 30% drop in crops last year grain. In the case of livestock, the loss of grass production in relation to a normal year could reach 50%, aggravated by the negative situation in nearby markets such as Navarra, Aragón or Lleida, and the high prices in international markets.

At the moment, the situation in the Basque Country is less critical than in other areas, since it has a sufficient level of water reserves for more than one complete annual cycle, but climate change is a reality and is already affecting agricultural and livestock activity.

These problems of agricultural and livestock farms are added to the rise in prices of raw materials and aggravated by the lack of water in recent months. URA, the Basque Water Agency, points out, in a report dated this Wednesday, the 17th, that the volumes stored in the reservoirs of the Basque Country range between 71 and 100%. The current situation is less favorable than that of a year ago, when they fluctuated between 81 and 100%. A situation, however, that does not lead to the adoption, at this time, of emergency measures related to the supply that continues to be guaranteed for more than one complete annual cycle. Of course, after the assessment and detailed diagnosis of the current moment, the Board has proposed a battery of initiatives that will contribute to mitigating the problems that the lack of water can cause in the feeding of livestock and the maintenance of orchards.

irrigation practices

Among them, are implementing guides for good irrigation practices for crops, enabling new irrigation and analyzing water and administrative requirements for the granting of new permits in areas of the Cantabrian slope for fodder crops, which are normally dry. It is also proposed to sow fodder as secondary crops and, on the other hand, green mowing measures will be taken for fodder crops that are traditionally used for grain (cereals, peas, nitrogen-fixing crops, etc.). Other initiatives are encouraging the implantation of fodder crops on land belonging to areas supplied by ponds in which there is more water than the needs of the currently implanted crops. It is also proposed to acquire dry fodder outside the Basque Country, which covers a percentage of the local fodder production. At the same time, the existing financial instrument will be reactivated in Euskadi, set up last year due to the war in Ukraine, to acquire fodder.

Other measures will be the reduction of leaks in the networks and digitization of the control and monitoring systems, raising awareness for the responsible use and saving of water and completing and reinforcing the necessary infrastructures.

Regarding the specific situation in Gipuzkoa, it is noted that the latest rains have maintained a certain normality, although there is a “panic” among farmers and ranchers regarding the autumn supply of fodder, especially due to the difficulties of drought in other areas where it is purchased to complement that produced in our territory. In the case of the dairy sector, there is “concern about the forecast drop in the price paid for milk with the increase in the cost of fodder and other inputs that they will have to face.”