Despite acknowledging that asparagus exports had a rise of 7.4% in 2011 (leading the list of emblematic products by the agricultural sector with 13% of the total, with a value of US$480 millions) and that Peru became the first world exporter of this cultivation, executives in the Peruvian Network for an Equal Globalization (RedGE - Red Peruana por una Globalización con Equidad), pointed that the raise in exports of this vegetable threatens the water supply in Ica.
Even so, they sustained that the fresh asparagus for export presently consumes 35% of the water in the area (explaining that the whole water resource consumed by the region is underground). Moreover, they said that, taking the info from the Water National Authority in Ica, they have to account for the fact that in the last 50 years, water levels in the region were diminished by 50 meters, due to an over exploitation of the resource in the intensive agricultural activity.
Even so, they sustained that the fresh asparagus for export presently consumes 35% of the water in the area (explaining that the whole water resource consumed by the region is underground). Moreover, they said that, taking the info from the Water National Authority in Ica, they have to account for the fact that in the last 50 years, water levels in the region were diminished by 50 meters, due to an over exploitation of the resource in the intensive agricultural activity.
In the same line, they denounced agro-exporting companies in the Ica valley that contribute significantly for the reduction in the water levels in the Ica valley - Villacurí drops on a rate of two meters per year, being referred to as the highest in the whole world.
In this context, RedGE accused also agro-exporting companies of having the majority of the extraction wells in the valley, including the ones inside the urban sprawl, affecting 18,500 people and their houses, due to a drought in the nearby wells. At this rate, they calculate that, in the next 30 years, they will be also dry, multiplying by 10 the number of affected people.
In this context, RedGE accused also agro-exporting companies of having the majority of the extraction wells in the valley, including the ones inside the urban sprawl, affecting 18,500 people and their houses, due to a drought in the nearby wells. At this rate, they calculate that, in the next 30 years, they will be also dry, multiplying by 10 the number of affected people.
In the end, they also underlined the need to implement regulation controls on the water usage, especially for asparagus that - like specialists at RedGE said - due to regulation faults, cause significant social and environmental impact, affecting mainly the nearby populations.
Source: agraria.pe