Santiago Pérez, a 45-year-old agricultural producer from Campo de Cartagena, has spent his entire life in the sector. Together with other partners, he manages around 60 hectares located in the municipalities of La Puebla, La Aljorra, Torre Pacheco and Los Alcázares. These days, he is waiting to receive news on the use of water from the wells, so he can put his crops in production. But the good news are not coming. "At this point, 100 percent of the fields should be planted, but due to the lack of water resources, we have sown just over half of what was expected," he said.
"The planting of the winter season usually kicks off in late August, but by that time we were barely working. We did a bit more in September and now we are waiting, because we don't have information on how much water we will have," he added.
Reduction of staff
For him, the situation in Campo de Cartagena is already "critical." Next year, this will also force him to reduce the number of plantations. "We are changing the model and, from now on, we will put fewer hectares into production, which will take a toll on our profits, but will also have an impact on the number of jobs we generate, which has gone from 20 to 7," he explained.
To give an example, last year, it had sold its customers about five million heads of lettuce by this time, but this season they have only managed to supply two million. "My buyers have had to go to other provinces to stock up and be able to meet their commitments in Europe," he added.
He hopes that the water problem will be solved by politicians "as soon as possible," although he knows that it is difficult, because he believes that there are hidden interests to prevent Cartagena from continuing to produce at the rate that it has done so far.
Fuente: laverdad.es
