The lack of rainfall during spring is increasing the level of plant stress and producers are increasingly more concerned about crop development, especially in the south of the country. Some agrarian organizations and autonomous communities are already demanding a Working Group on Drought be convened.

On Monday, the Junta de Andalucía appealed to the creation of this Working Group. On Tuesday, the agrarian organization Asaja shared this request. In a statement, Asaja made an urgent call for the creation of this Working Group to help the primary sector face the serious difficulties it is experiencing due to the lack of rainfall.

The president of Asaja, Pedro Barato, described the lack of rainfall and low levels of dammed water as alarming and said they needed to adopt urgent measures in a coordinated manner with the country's authorities.

According to the organization, the absence of water and the unusual increase in temperatures are causing irreparable losses in crops in many areas of Spain, as in the case of cereals, legumes, and woody crops.

He recalled that water reserves in the reservoirs currently reach 51.5% of their capacity, below the average of the last decade, and that the Guadalquivir and Guadiana basins barely had 25.6% and 34.6% of their capacity, respectively.

Asaja has warned that irrigated crops are going to be seriously compromised and has called for addressing the issue from a global point of view after several autonomous communities have approved decrees in the face of drought.

The Guadalquivir Hydrographic Confederation (CGH) has convened the Commission on Dam Water Releases for April 17 while Andalusian farmers and ranchers ask for immediate water for their crops.

According to sources of the CHG, the commission, which met for the last time on March 2, will present the hydrological information of the basin and propose the irrigation allocations for the 2023 campaign.

The sources have also specified that the commission will study all proposals and requests made from the sectors, including those of the garlic sector, the most affected sector that is in urgent need of water, before taking and adopting any measures.

The Minister of Water, Carmen Crespo, announced on Monday that the Junta was going to send a letter to the Ministry of Agriculture to request the Working Group on Drought be convened this April.
“It is the ideal time to convene a table that is absolutely fundamental for the whole of Spain and especially for the driest parts of Spain. We can't be alone at this moment,” she stated.

Source - https://www.freshplaza.com