Citrus fruits, vegetables and vines will be the crops most affected by Algarve water cuts

Algarve farmers reject the cuts and downplay the impact of government aid. For the sector, it is essential to create measures to increase the availability of water.

Farmers accuse the government of having a lack of “vision” and “affection” for the agricultural sector, warning that the decision to impose a 25% reduction target on water consumption will lead to the abandonment of the activity and a loss of competitiveness in relation to other markets. Irrigated crops such as citrus fruits, vegetables and vines will be the most affected by the restrictions, and even the compensation announced by the government won’t be enough to cover the losses. “We don’t want compensation. We want water,” says the Portuguese Farmers’ Confederation (CAP).

According to the Environment and Agriculture ministries, the drought situation in the Algarve has been getting worse over the last 20 years, and today the possibility of a state of calamity is no longer ruled out.

“We can’t ignore the fact that we have very little water and, if nothing was done, we would reach the middle of this year and we wouldn’t have any water. We run the risk of reaching the end of the summer and having no water for public supply,” said Maria do Céu Antunes in an interview with Renascença, published last Friday.

When asked if she would accept a state of calamity in the Algarve region, the minister said that “if it brings water or solutions to the people, we will do it”. However, she points out that what the government is doing “is finding solutions for the immediate future”.

Farmers share the same opinion, but reject the idea that these solutions involve cutting off water. Speaking to ECO/Capital Verde, the secretary-general of CAP – Confederação dos Agricultores de Portugal (Confederation of Portuguese Farmers) believes that the cuts decreed by the government last Thursday are “disproportionate” and points out, by way of example, that although the supply network in the Algarve loses an average of 30% of the water that passes through it every year, it will only be forced to reduce the public supply by 15%.

“Those who are wasting 30% should do the work. [The sector] has 40 million euros from the Recovery and Resilience Plan to stop these losses and this work isn’t being done, it’s going at a very slow pace. In the meantime, they’re cutting off our [farmers’] water,” accuses Luís Mira.

Equally slow are the plans to create water transfers from the north to the south to combat drought. “We’ve been trying to decide on a new airport for 50 years. Connections between dams from Alqueva or the Douro to the Alentejo and Algarve have been on the back burner for 70 years. We’re indecisive when it comes to defining structural works for the country and this government doesn’t have the vision and care that the [agricultural] sector deserves,” the director-general of the Association of Young Farmers of Portugal (AJAP), Firmino Cordeiro, told ECO/Capital Verde.

According to the farmers, the 25% cuts in water use are, however, “a mere cosmetic operation” and they warn that, in some cases, the reduction could reach 50%, as is planned for the Sotavento hydro-agricultural perimeter.

According to the Commission for the Sustainability of Hydro-agriculture in the Algarve (CSHA), made up of 120 producers, farmers and irrigation associations in the Algarve, the 25% cut includes a 15% reduction in the use of groundwater and a cut of between 44% and 50% in the use of surface water. The CSHA has done the math and estimates that groundwater represents 75% of the water used by the sector and surface water represents 25% of this consumption.

In addition, they point out that the cuts of 2022 and 2023 are still in force in both the groundwater and surface water of the Alvor and Silves, Lagoa and Portimão irrigation perimeters, and consider that the forecast of 35 hectometers of rainfall by April is far from being achieved.

“With this amount of water available and if it doesn’t rain, we won’t be able to produce in a large part of the installed areas,” estimates the CSHA, in a note sent to the press last Thursday.

Avocados and greenhouses are also affected

According to the AJAP, citrus fruit, avocados, vegetables, vines and greenhouses will be the crops most affected because they depend on a drip irrigation system and this reality, as well as contributing to a drop in competitiveness, will “inevitably” lead to the activity being abandoned.

“We’re talking about crops that are highly prized abroad. This country doesn’t have as much of a source of income as that, so we can’t protect the sector and the agriculture that has been making a name for itself – we have excellent farmers,” argues Firmino Cordeiro. “We have no need to complain. We complain when we are no longer competitive with Spain.”

But the truth is that even farmers in the south of Spain can’t escape the restrictions imposed by the drought in the Mediterranean basin. According to Canal Sur, the Bornos dam in Cádiz, one of the main sources of irrigation for the sector in the Andalusia region, is at 10% of its capacity and as far as human consumption is concerned, around 50 Andalusian municipalities have already put restrictions in place.

Regardless, the loss of competitiveness is certain. “If [the products] don’t come from Spain, they come from another country. The economy spends foreign currency and has a very large carbon footprint. But there’s no problem there. The big problem is the impact of a transfer from the North to the South,” laughs Luís Mira.

And even compensation shouldn’t be enough to mitigate the damage – or meet the satisfaction of producers who are asking for “solutions to find water”, such as the desalination plant in Albufeira, which won’t be operational until 2026.

The government has already admitted that possibilities for financial support for the agricultural sector are being studied, but for operators the rules prevent the distribution of funds in an equitable manner. The diagnosis made by the professionals is clear: “There are many who are left out and those who receive aid, receive little,” criticizes Firmino Cordeiro, adding that in recent months market prices have been “adjusted” which has allowed some crops to “make some money again”.

“The margins are better, which means there will be income losses. You’ll never hear farmers say they’re satisfied with the compensation,” says AJAP’s director-general.

What is inevitable, say the farmers, is that both the worsening drought, boosted by climate change, and government restrictions, will lead to abandonment, particularly on the part of small producers. This at a time when the activity has nevertheless managed to increase in value. According to data from the Bank of Portugal, in 2022 the sector’s turnover exceeded 68 million euros, an increase on the previous year (55 million).

“The purchase price for a hectare to produce is very high in the Algarve, and even for renters it’s high. People aren’t in agriculture to pass the time, they need to pay bills, and in the Algarve there are many farmers who won’t be able to cope and will give up,” warns Firmino Cordeiro.