It is no secret that the drought is seriously affecting the agricultural sector in Spain, although its effects are being especially lethal in the fields of inland Catalonia. In the Pla de Lleida it is ostensible, as shown by these photographs of the landscape of Urgell contributed by Josep Regà and NarcÃs Serrat to Las Fotos de los Lectores de La Vanguardia.
With water reserves at levels never seen before and with the extreme lack of rain, workers in the primary sector do not see the way to deal with this season in which “losses can be up to 100%.”
It was also reported by Josep Castelló, a farmer from the town of Altet, in the Urgell region, whose exploitation is based on dryland cereal and fruit and woody trees, some of the crops most affected by the current drought situation.
In addition to this, the imminent closure of the Urgell canal irrigation is added to Castelló, which is responsible for supplying water to more than 70,000 hectares of Pla de Lleida. And, although they have some pools of water as a result of a joint action between many of the farmers in the area, he affirms that “everything will depend on the weather these days.”
As regards dryland cereal, Castelló assures that it is completely lost. On the contrary, the cultivation of woody trees will be able to save it thanks to the water reserves it has. However, this farmer is already looming that this year will be “the most expensive harvest that he remembers” and in which he will collect less than ever, “with excessive costs.”
“If we continue at this rate, the losses will be 80% or even 100%,” laments Josep Castelló. A particularly worrying scenario because, in the case of fruit trees and woody trees, if they are lost “they will not be able to be planted again in the future.”
Faced with this alarming situation, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is coordinating a new aid package to try to mitigate the effects of the drought.
However, Castelló clarifies that in this type of measures they only serve to pay the high expenses they have. “If I only cover costs, it means that I don’t keep any benefit,” he says, given the ineffectiveness of the benefits.
“The drought has shown that for two decades agriculture has been largely forgotten.” Josep Castelló denounces that the problem of closing the Urgell canal could have been avoided, as was the limit situation of the Oliana and Rialp reserves. “Last year, the hydroelectric plants used up a lot of their water and with it we could have endured another year without any problem,” he points out.
Faced with this clear situation of wear and tear, the farmer affirms emphatically that “if the Government had been more farsighted, right now we farmers would have water.” And he concludes that those in his sector no longer have “the courage or money to undertake next year’s harvest.”
Castelló is clear about it and considers that the problem goes beyond the current drought. “People who have not experienced agriculture have always sent us; the territory is maintained by the people who work it, not by an office in Barcelona,” he stresses.
