Who is responding to the growing need for water among farmers?

PalmThe Balearic Islands have experienced their warmest June since 1961, with a temperature anomaly of 3.3 degrees Celsius above average. This temperature increase adds to the difficult situation facing the Balearic Islands' countryside, which has already suffered firsthand—and continues to suffer—the consequences of climate change: drought, decreased production of some varieties, and an increased risk of disease in animals, among others. farmers They are forced to accept losses and, in addition, to make investments to try to mitigate the effects of adverse weather conditions as much as possible. "I've had to install showers for the cows because they have a very hard time with the heat. They don't eat and just lie on the ground," explains the president of the Union of Small Farmers and Ranchers of the Balearic Islands (UPA), Joana Mascaró.

Added to this situation is the fact that "the Government is doing nothing to combat this change in the weather," denounces the president ofUnion of Farmers of Mallorca, Sebastià Ordines, in a video recently posted by the union on social media. It's been a year and a half since the government used for the only time a tool it has to minimize the effects of adverse weather events: the Climate Change Roundtable. "In theory, it should be the mother of all roundtables," claims Joan Company, president of the Agrarian Association of Young Farmers of the Islands (Asaja). Following the video complaint by Unió de Pagesos, the Director General of Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development, Fernando Fernández, has convened the Roundtable for July 30th. "I've been thinking about the issue for some time, but I can't hide the fact that the agricultural union's video encouraged me to convene it with more urgency," Fernández admits to ARA Baleares.

He also admits that farmers are right and believes that "the meeting should have been held earlier." The meetings to address the issue of climate change have been "poorly operational." But farmers aren't just criticizing the Ministry of Agriculture for its "inaction" in the face of climate change. A transition that, in many cases, was used for farming. "It's exactly the opposite of what the countryside needs," believes Joan Gaià, coordinator of Unió de Pagesos. And what does the countryside of the Canary Islands need?

The resource most in demand by the primary sector in the face of the drought it has suffered in recent years is water. Farmers continually demand that the Executive branch develop strategies that allow them access to water networks and use reclaimed water to irrigate their crops. The president of the Association of Producers ofOrganic Agriculture of Mallorca (Apaema)Miquel Coll explains that rising temperatures "mean that crops require more water" and denounces that, due to overexploitation of the soil, "wells are being dug to fill swimming pools and irrigate gardens."

The use and optimization of reclaimed water is one of the issues that, according to the Director General of Agriculture, will be addressed at the Commission's meeting on July 30. However, farmers add that issues such as prioritizing crops with lower water demands and the redistribution of farmers who currently have plantations that, due to climate change, are not profitable, among others, should also be addressed.

Therefore, Coll demands that the Executive make decisions "sensibly and based on objective data." He also criticizes the fact that currently "things are done for show" and that "there is a lack of financial resources to study the data and measures and to monitor them."