FIELDS SUFFERING WITH -118MLN MC WATER
The grip of the drought is worsening in Puglia with the loss of water in the reservoirs of 118 million cubic meters due to the lack of rain in autumn and winter, despite the wave of bad weather in recent days which evidently was of little use, but to worsening the irrigation emergency scenario there is also the condition of malfunctioning and broken wells or half-serviced ones due to lack of personnel. This was reported by Coldiretti Puglia on the basis of data from the ANBI Observatory of 7 May 2024, which urged ARIF to immediately restore the functioning of the artesian wells in the countryside of Noci and Palo del Colle.
The 2 wells ‘Difesa’ and ‘Spinelli’ in the countryside of Palo del Colle are out of order and do not supply water due to electrical problems that inhibit the operation of the pumps – insists Coldiretti Puglia – while in the countryside of Noci compared to ‘Pozzo Perrotta’ and ‘Pozzo Scarciullo’, fewer irrigation bodies are supplied than the mandatory needs, due to the lack of personnel with the consequent irregular and insufficient functioning of the two daily shifts.
Irrigation management, especially in this period in which crops need water to grow, is a fundamental factor for agriculture and animal husbandry, for the protection of production and income and must be addressed with the utmost attention and efficiency. Puglia, among other things, has the sad national record of being the region of Italy where it rains the least, but when it rains even violently, the water is not collected due to the lack of reservoirs useful for conserving it, but the fact that Puglia has always lived with drought – argues Coldiretti Puglia – with over 57% of the territory at risk of desertification, requires us not to underestimate and minimize the problem, rather than take action once and for all by exploiting the resources of the PNRR also to cope with the chronic state of emergency that our region endures, with enormous costs borne by all production sectors and the population itself.
Due to the spring climate that characterized autumn and winter with temperatures well above normal, the clementines have already paid the price and ended up being pulped, compromised by the lack of water which inhibited their growth, with production costs also skyrocketing for emergency irrigation, so reports and checks have begun for the recognition of the drought calamity for the citrus fruit sector, but now cereals and legumes are at high risk of drought, while the olive trees are in perennial vegetation. The water crisis has led to a drastic drop in green fodder in the pastures with the increase in costs for the purchase of feed to ensure the feeding of the animals in the stables, which have already skyrocketed due to the rise in the prices of the main raw materials such as soya, corn, cereals and fodder also due to the current crisis due to the conflicts in Ukraine and Israel, with farmers forced to bear the costs of feed.
With the drought and the rise in sea levels, the rise of the salt wedge makes water resources and land unusable with a scenario which – underlines the regional Coldiretti – is more than worrying for the agricultural economy of the entire region. Among other things, Puglia is the region of Italy where it rains the least with an average of 641.5 millimeters per year and serious impacts on agriculture caused by drought which destroys crops and encourages fires and represents the most significant disaster for fields and it also maintains the negative record – recalls Coldiretti Puglia – of the average annual availability of resources per capita with only 1000 cubic metres, less than half of the national average annual availability per capita estimated at 2330 cubic metres. On the other hand, 89% of rainwater is lost every year, a waste that Puglia cannot afford – Coldiretti insists – considering that it doesn’t have water and needs important works to redesign its structure. and hydrogeological and to guarantee not only the water supply for the population, but to ensure adequate irrigation bodies for agricultural, artisanal and industrial production.
The lack of water for irrigation, due to dry basins and crumbling infrastructure, is weighing on crops. For this reason, Coldiretti has relaunched the proposal for a plan of accumulation reservoirs with pumping, promoted together with Anbi, to collect the water that falls and make it available for crops. The lakes would be built without cement, with local stone and with the same excavated earth with which they were prepared. The objective is to collect 50% of rainwater – concludes Coldiretti – which could be used for a variety of other uses, reducing the withdrawal of drinking water.
