The Unió de Pagesos has stated that the drought has "significantly" affected agricultural plantations dependent on the swamps of Guiamets, in the Ribera d'Ebre and Priorat, Margalef, as well as in the Priorat, and Riudecanyes swamp, in Baix Camp and Tarragonès, which won't share more water in the remainder of 2023.
"The Guiamets swamp irrigates 1,347 hectares (802 of which are sweet fruit) mainly of almond, cherry, olive, and grape crops in the municipalities of Els Guiamets, Tivissa, Mora la Nova, Garcia, Masroig, and Capçanes. Meanwhile, the Margalef swamp basically irrigates almond, olive, and grape crops in 13 hectares of sweet fruit in the municipalities of Cabacés, La Bisbal de Falset, Margalef, Vilella Alta, Vilella Baixa, and the Palma of Ebro. The Riudecanyes swamp mainly irrigates hazelnuts, olive, almond, and carob trees, and 158 hectares of sweet fruit, distributed among about twenty municipalities. According to October 2023 data, the Margalef swamp is practically without capacity, while that of Guiamets is at 10% of its capacity, and Riudecanyes, at 4.53%".
"The drought has also affected the 47 hectares of rain-fed sweet fruit in these municipalities; mainly of rain-fed cherries, (30 hectares), plums (4 hectares), apricots (3 hectares), pomegranates (3 hectares) , peaches (2 hectares), apples (2 hectares), and figs (2 hectares). According to the Unió de Pagesos, half of the trees in the entire rainfed and irrigated area devoted to producing sweet fruit have died because of the drought."
"The €275/hectare of aid that the Ministry of Agriculture has given the producers affected by the drought in the area and the additional €275/hectare that the Department of Climate Action will grant them at the insistence of the Unió de Pagesos, the only agricultural organization that has asked for it, are insufficient. Likewise, the aid that the Department allocated at the end of July to leave the non-commercial cherry on the trees or ground, which was only requested for 178 hectares, will also be insufficient."
Unió de Pagesos calls for "a solution for producers that have lost trees both in rain-fed and in irrigation or irrigation-supported crops." The union believes that the Administration "must finance a conversion plan for the producers affected, which allows them to cover 100% of the costs of uprooting and planting new plants, as well as the crops' unproductive period, as contemplated by the community regulations on state aid."
Source: uniopagesos.cat