The future of the vegetables and fruits produced in the area between Alicante and Murcia, which have become one of the best ambassadors to the Spanish brand in foreign markets and have been considered Europe's orchard for years, is endangered because of a lack of water resources. The record drought- which achieved the lowest statistics in a century last year- and the lack of transfers from the Tajo to Segura due to a reduction in water reserves in the peninsular center have already triggered the alert and reduced the acreage devoted for production this year. Additionally, the desalination of water won't solve this issue because of the volume of water needed and because of its quality.
The field from Alicante hasn't accomplished achieving the volumes it produced before the crisis, i.e. almost 1.8 million tons of production worth 608 million Euro harvested 171,437 hectares, even though it was one the few economic sectors that endured it thanks to the boom in exports.
As a result of the strong demand from Central European consumers and the improvement in performance, the sector was expected to grow. "Price quotations for fruits, vegetables and other crops, such as olives or almonds are going through a favorable period in the field. There's a 4% improvement in prices over the year, which encouraged farmers to plant more," stated the Young Farmers from Asaja-Alicante in their final balance of 2015. However, the area has received virtually no water from Tajo since October. They have only received two cubic hectometres approved by the Ministry of Agriculture in February and 12.5 hectometers for March, April and May -which are still pending- after the minimum transfers from November and December were destined exclusively for the urban supply of the 2.5 million people population in 80 municipalities in Murcia and Alicante.
A decrease in plantations
In January, the area got to the extreme zero transfer point, where there was no water for irrigation or for domestic use. Entrepreneurs and experts from the universities from Alicante joined forces in the Water Forum and the Irrigation unions staged an act to defend Tajo-Segura, the Board of Castilla-La Mancha, headed by Emiliano García-Page, maintains several resources in court to repeal it.
Given this situation, farmers have chosen to plant less for the summer season, the most important season, and are irrigating their production with water that has a poor quality due to the excessive conductivity and salinity the water from the wells have and because of the unsuitable properties that the desalinized water has for certain crops. The possible expected effects that the water has on these foods, a decrease in production and a loss of flavor, are yet to be seen.
Another impact of the lack of water is desertification, which is already affecting a third of the soil of the province, according to studies by the Ministry of Environment. Experts, such as Jesus Reina, from the College of Forestry Engineers, have warned that climate change will exacerbate this degradation. A degradation that is already causing a decrease in agricultural production.
