The Spanish Government is keeping a close eye on the amounts of rainfall, as well as on how the lack of rain water could take a toll on the agricultural productions. Meanwhile, the water reservoirs are currently at 58% of their total capacity and there is still a commitment to implementing "sustainable and balanced" irrigation modernization policies.
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, already said recently that given the lack of rainfall in recent months, his Department has been monitoring the development of the crops in Spain, in case concrete measures are needed.
However, he believes that "it is still too early" for this, since it is necessary "to keep an eye on the situation and its development." It is also important to pay attention to the forecasts in order to determine if there will be enough water this spring. There are agrarian organizations, such as Asaja, which have already asked the administrations for reports on the situation by counties.
The amount of water accumulated in the peninsular reservoirs has decreased again this past week, with the loss of 218 cubic hectometres of water.
The reservoirs currently have 32,627 cubic hectometres of water. This is a lower figure than at this same time of the previous year, and much lower than the average of the last ten years.
Agriculture is a great water consumer and, in this sense, the Minister appreciates the fact that more than half of the irrigated area in Spain already uses localized or drip irrigation.
Thanks to the work of the administrations and the irrigators, it has been possible to modernize 1.4 million hectares since the end of the 90's through the investment of 3,800 million Euro.
Source: efeagro