Despite the rains of recent days, the Spanish reservoirs are still less than a third of their total capacity. As the main consumer sector of water, agriculture is in the focus of all eyes. But without water there is no agriculture (or food). Both for irrigated crops (which account for 33% of the total in Catalonia and 23% in Spain) and for rainfed crops (those most affected by higher temperatures and low rainfall), measures are being investigated and implemented to quench your thirst with less water.
This challenge of producing the same (or more) with less water has an essential ally: technology. "The star tools are those that help in the programming of irrigation," says Alfonso Domínguez Padilla, full professor at the Higher Technical School of Agricultural Engineers and Foresters of Albacete and coordinator of the Supromed project. Within the framework of this research project financed by Prima, an entity based in Barcelona that promotes the collaboration of scientists from all over the Mediterranean, an open access tool has been created based on satellite and meteorological data that allows irrigation communities know the water needs of crops in real time.
But not all possible advances in reducing water needs are limited to the use of technology. Robert Savé Montserrat, emeritus researcher at the Institute for Research and Agrifood Technology (IRTA), explains some of the solutions that are on the table. One of them is “increasing the water retained from the fields”. This is achieved "by cultivating again with respect to the contour lines, applying walls or other systems to retain the amount of water every few meters or taking advantage of the natural water resources available in the closest environment".
Beyond the soil, Savé explains that other possible proposals are "to reduce the densities of the plantations or recover old varieties, which were abandoned for being less productive or with less visually attractive products, but which are more resistant to drought." Finally, the IRTA researcher emeritus also points to another reality: "The large increase in forest area in recent decades is not only a problem due to the greater risk of fire that it entails, but also because it reduces the water available for crops" .
According to IRTA, "everything indicates that this year will not remain an anecdote and it is possible that it will be more frequent to live with a climate characterized by droughts, heat waves and hailstorms." Joaquim Bellvert, researcher for the Efficient Use of Water in Agriculture program at IRTA, remarks that “for next year we must prepare for a very complicated irrigation campaign, where every drop of water will count and making rational and efficient use of water will be key. of irrigation”. In fact, the experts from this research center also warn that the next campaign could start with the reservoirs at "historic lows".
