Drought threatens the rice crop in the Ebro delta for the first time: “It’s a disaster”

It is still early in the morning and the whistling of the wind mixes with a fluting metronome noise. Is he scops owl songwhich at this time stands out above the others birds. Some fieldsfew are already full of water. Others not yet, since many farmers they opt for the “dry planting“to prevent the apple snail destroy crops. What they do is wait for the rice to grow a bit to then flood the plots.

pons accompanies the delta scene with his explanations: “Both for a type of sowing as for the other, there comes a time when you are bound to release the water“This means more investment in machinery, to be able to adapt to the two sowing styles.

In the last few hours they have received a message from the community of irrigators. They require them to keep all the scrapyards closed and, when they have filled the field, to close the water intake. That is the water that enters in the countryside does not go out into the lagoons, as was normally the case. If he remains in the fields, the cycle is broken.

This is one of the measures applied to deal with irrigation season conditioned by the limitation imposed by the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation (CHE). Rice farmers will only have 50% of the water (250 hrs³ of the 500 hm³ usual).

Will they leave fields without watering? “No. Nobody here has warned us in advance, as has happened with the Empordà rice farmers. The CHE has acted treacherously”, criticizes Pons. they have sown done and the adobe in the field: “We start now and we’ll see how it ends“.

Another farmer joins the conversation, Kilian Franchwho gets off his tractor to give his opinion: “I’m planting rice thinking that I throw the money. Nothing like this has ever happened in their lives.” If it doesn’t rain, they will cut off their water before August. “This would mean losing the crops,” he warns Franch. He has decided to sow as soon as possible: “In case there is luck and I can get to pick something up.”

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The nerves and concern of the rice farmers monopolize the conversation in the bars of Sant Jaume d’Aging and Delta Town. Will the lack of water cause the rice lose quality? According to ponsit is possible that yes: “The key is that the water never stagnate in the fields, let it go circulating slowly.

It goes in through the intake and out through the drain, to fill iconic lagoons such as the encanyissada wave tancada“.

But this year it won’t be like always. The order of the community is “do not drain under any circumstances”, which can cause the water to remain too long in the same field. “This hurts rice. With the heat, the water evaporates, and it will not be oxygenated enough“, Pons complains. “And the rice asks for fresh water every day”, ditch.

In it left channelIn order to reuse the water, the rice farmers have worked to prepare the water pumps. Thus, at a minimum, it will be possible send the rice from one field to another constantly and it will not stagnate as much. pons account the negative consequences: “With this system, we give you water highways to the apple snailwith which we carry 10 years fighting a tough battle. But it seems there is no other way out.”

The irrigators of the right channel they have it even more difficult. They will have to carry out their crops without this recirculation mechanism. “Bad look has all this,” he releases Toni Almudeve, another farmer. “But we keep working”, he resigns himself.

In one of the farmer’s barracks of the right channelrice farmers prepare the “pirate flags”, made with garbage bags, which scare away the flamingos so they don’t eat the rice. Others prepare the land for uncertain planting. In some fields they already have it all flooded to prevent salt from emerging and damaging the rice. Fresh water keeps salt water at bay.

70 million at stake

The long-distance race of the rice farmers has begun. They all conspire to achieve flowering from rice to mid july: “If we make it to this point alive, at least we can receive aid. If not, we do not even aspire to the economic compensations“.

pons he fears that all the farmers in Catalonia will ask for financial aid: “It will not be easy for them to give it to us, but if the plant does not flourish it will be impossible to collect it.” after, for get reap decently, water would be needed throughout the month of Augustsomething that CHE does not ensure if the Mequinenza reservoir continues to lose steam. The rice farmers try not to lose hope. They know that the Generalitat has asked the CHE to ensure the Ecological flow throughout the summer, which would save the paddy fields.

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How much money is at stake? In the delta they are cultivated 140 million of kilos of rice, to €0.5 per kilo. In other words, if nothing was harvested, they would stop earning 70 million. “It’s a disaster, we have never planted in a scenario like this,” he says Daniel Forcadellanother rice farmer from the channel on the right who chairs the board of the natural park.

They are no longer in time to change crops. Fresh water already irrigates the entire irrigation network. And this means that the sweet water, the heart of the delta ecosystem, is already beating in the rice fields. “What remains to be seen is if it will go all the way. We water. If the water runs out, there will be nothing to do.”