An exceptional drought is disciplining agriculture in Spain, which is also a significant importer of fruits and vegetables to Finland. For the Finnish SOK, Spain is the most important single importing country for fruits and vegetables.
The Spanish farmers’ organization COAG estimated last week that the lack of rain is already affecting 80 percent of the countryside and causing irreversible damage to more than five million hectares of rain-dependent cereal crops.
It has also been estimated from the producer side that olive oil production will be less than half of normal this year, wheat and barley yields will shrink by up to 60 percent and avocados will be a quarter less than usual.
According to AEMET, which predicts the weather in Spain, the beginning of the year has been drier than ever during monitoring. In January-April, less than half of the average rain fell in the country.
The drought is especially affecting Andalusia in southern Spain and Catalonia in northeastern Spain.
Professor of Agricultural Economics By Julio Berbel below average rains are not a problem if they last for a year.
– But the second year is problematic and the third year is serious. And now it’s already the fifth year, says Berbel, who works at the University of Córdoba, about the region of Andalusia.
Water reserves are dwindling
The water reservoirs are already insufficient. In Andalusia and Catalonia, the reservoirs have less than a quarter of their capacity, said the director of the climate science laboratory at the University of Alicante Jorge Olcina news channel for France24. Both regions set restrictions on water use already in February. Crops that are usually irrigated also suffer from the drought.
In Andalusia, according to Berbel, only 18 percent of the normal amount of water can now be used for irrigation.
– This means that tree plantations are on the borderline of survival, he says.
Tree plantations are very important in the region. They grow, for example, olives, citrus fruits and almonds. A smaller area has plums, peaches and avocados.
According to the farmers’ association, the viability of fruit trees is seriously threatened in, for example, Andalusia, Catalonia and Murcia.
– People are lucky when they get even one fifth of the water. Maybe they’ll make it through this summer and not lose their trees, Berbel says.
However, according to him, some farmers have already sacrificed their less productive trees and concentrated water use on young and productive trees.
Funds for reusing wastewater
The situation varies by region. According to Berbel, the southeastern part of Spain, for example the province of Murcia, is generally the driest region in Spain. That’s why desalination plants have been built there, where salt is removed from seawater, and the water can be used, for example, for irrigation.
In coastal areas, waste water has also been treated for reuse at a record pace for farmers. There is not enough of it, but it supports the survival of tree plantations, Berbel reflects.
Olcina from the University of Alicante estimates that there is a small chance that the rains would solve the drought situation. “At this time of year, all we get are pinpoint and localized storms. They will not solve the rain deficit,” he told Reuters.
The Spanish government said last week that it would spend 2.2 billion euros to improve water availability and, for example, to support farmers suffering from drought. The funds will be used to increase water reuse and build facilities that remove salt from seawater.
Minister of the Environment Teresa Ribera said in connection with the announcement of the funding package that as a result of climate change, the effects of droughts will be stronger in Spain, as droughts occur more often and are more severe.
Summer fruit season in stores
In Finland, the trading giants SOK and Kesko buy especially melons and stone fruits such as peaches, plums and nectarines from Spain in the summer. SOK also imports strawberries from Spain.
According to the companies, the drought in Spain should not weaken the selection in stores, at least in the short term.
– Actually, the opposite, says the purchasing and sales manager Nanette Karttunen From Kesko’s daily grocery store.
According to his information, despite the drought, the flowering period of stone fruits has been better in Spain than in the previous couple of years, and the goods are arriving in kilos even more than last year. However, the fruits may be smaller than usual due to dryness.
SOK’s product group director, who visited the production areas in Andalusia and Murcia in Spain this week Brother Matti Puhakan according to the drought should not affect the selections in the short term.
According to him, the melon season is currently at its peak in Andalusia. There, the harvest is becoming like normal. According to Puhaka, nothing can be said for sure about the harvest in Murcia yet. For example, hailstorms have, however, destroyed crops locally.
– However, the fields are full of ripening fruit, Puhakka says via email from Spain.
According to him, melon producers in Murcia are waiting for the coming summer and autumn with excitement, wondering how the water reserves will be filled.
– Currently, the drought is not visible in production, says Puhakka.
What about the prices? Would you assume that if there is less supply, then prices will rise?
– I can’t do price signaling, but that’s how market mechanisms usually work, says Puhakka.
Kesko can concentrate its purchases in Italy if the water situation in northern Spain does not improve during the summer. In the previous two years, the harvest has suffered either in Spain or Italy, but the fruit has been bought from the other.
What about the future of farming?
According to Professor Berbel, climate change is making farming more difficult in the Mediterranean region, and yields are threatening to become smaller.
According to him, this summer has seen a huge increase in the reuse of treated wastewater.
– It grows quickly and becomes part of the solution.
According to Berbel, the situation affects inland and coastal areas in different ways. Berbel believes that in coastal areas the problem can be solved with technological solutions such as desalination.
Inland, the situation is more difficult. According to Berbel, not all irrigation systems can be maintained indefinitely. It will be a painful political decision, and people who lose their livelihood must be supported, he reflects.