Catalan agriculture has warned that the severe drought and the reduction in harvests that are already taking place "could have repercussions on food prices" at a time when inflation in the shopping basket continues to skyrocket. Winter cereals for animal feed, oil, rice, fruit in the Urgell canal area or nuts are some of the products that, today, are more or less compromised due to scarcity of water, explains Ramon Sarroca, president of the Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives of Catalonia (FCAC).
The sector exposed the situation to the Department of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda at the agricultural table that was held this Monday afternoon and in which it was agreed to create a monitoring commission that will meet every fortnight to assess the effect of drought and take action. “We have asked that the CAP be modified to adapt it to the effects of water scarcity”, comments Sarroca. The FCAC estimates that 80% of dryland winter cereals "is already lost."
As for the olive trees, the 2022-2023 harvest "was the worst in the last fifteen years, with a production of 15,000 tons of olive oil when it had never been below 20,000 tons and if the rainfall does not change the next harvest would also be affected”, they maintain. The livestock and dairy sectors are also concerned about the availability of drinking water for farm animals and the scarcity of fodder. Oil or milk are some of the foods that have become more expensive in recent months, with a rise in the CPI of 32.1% in March in the case of the former and 30.8% in the latter.
For its part, Unió de Pagesos also demanded the relaxation of certain CAP regulations and the activation of extraordinary measures provided for in European regulations, which will be raised this Thursday with the Ministry of Agriculture, says Joan Caball, the union's national coordinator. For Caball, it is urgent to improve the management of water reuse and the modernization of irrigation to achieve a more efficient use of water resources in a climatic context in which droughts will be more and more frequent. The union also requested that water and food be guaranteed for extensive livestock farming, as well as the "relaxation of the requirements of the regulations regarding investment and the incorporation of young people."
"The entire cultivation area of the Urgell canal is of particular concern to us," underlines Sarroca. The Department of Climate Action and the Urgell Canal irrigation community agreed today to request the Ministry of Agriculture to modernize this infrastructure, whose main canal will be closed as of today due to the drought and which affects 50,000 irrigated hectares.
The Government estimates that this modernization requires an investment of 1,200 million euros, an amount that, it insists, cannot be assumed only by irrigators. The Minister Teresa Jordà proposed a few days ago to the Minister of Agriculture, Luis Planas, that the Generalitat assume 60% of the cost of modernizing the Urgell canal, so that the State should finance the remaining 40%. This measure could mitigate the impact of droughts and improve the efficiency of water use, she believes.
