In Malaga province, growers are delaying planting crops due to ongoing drought concerns and fears of water shortages. According to President of the provincial young farmers' association Asaja, Baldomero Bellido, this would impact particularly on tomatoes, onions and peppers. He claimed the farmers' fears are justified: "The year has already been very hard. It is logical that nobody wants to risk spending money on planting something when the chances of it being ruined by the lack of water are very high.”
About 164,686 tons of vegetables were produced in 2022, which resulted in a turnover of 129.9 million euros. According to sources in the sector, these figures will be considerably reduced. "We are talking about the market garden of Malaga. Tomatoes, green beans, aubergines, tomatoes, cucumbers and courgettes," Bellido pointed out.
There are also concerns for permanent crops, such as olive groves. Trees that are not irrigated are in danger of being left in very poor condition. The olive groves have been very dry for several years and if the last harvest was the worst in 20 years, the next one could be even worse, Bellido added.
Source - https://www.freshplaza.com
