The temperature in January is 29 degrees. This is what is being witnessed in the province of Alicante as a result of climate change and is why agriculture is in apparent confusion. An example of this is almond trees, which bloom a month early and are occasionally accompanied by misdirected cherries out of season.. According to experts, the worst thing is that this phenomenon is permanent.
High temperatures as well as drought have been damaging agriculture, which has become more dependent on irrigation over the past year, but it is now clear that even dry lands cannot escape this trend. And this The unusually warm winter we experienced with record-breaking temperatures in many parts of the province last Wednesday is directly affecting crops such as almond trees.which should currently remain in hibernation.
But nothing could be further from the truth, as a very large percentage of plantations have already started blooming, even those located inland, which are currently a month ahead of normal dates. And this, as expected, Not only for this reason, but also because of the lack of rainfall, it alarmed the sector, which feared a new disaster campaign..
This is expressed by José Vicente Andreu, president of Asaja Alicante, who does not hesitate to point out that “nature is very crazy.” In his own words, he emphasizes, “Normally, in the more inland areas, almond trees bloom in late February or even early March, but we are already seeing many trees fully active.”
He directly attributes this to: “We are experiencing not only cold, but also very high temperatures, almost summer, and this will not bring anything good.” At the beginning he emphasizes that because «Almond trees will definitely face the danger of frost in the remaining months of winter.It will undoubtedly have a direct impact on the volume of the harvest. But Andreu himself adds: “We have already been dry for months and this crop is dry, but not that dry. “It needs rain and moisture at least from time to time.”
Juan Pastor, who is responsible for this agricultural sector in La Unió, expresses himself in similar terms, stating that there have already been several consecutive campaigns in which harvests were below normal, and he is sure that the current campaign will be added to this. list. “Flowering is ongoing, so frost is almost certain to occur,” he warns, further exacerbating drought. «There are trees that will die outright, without the option of watering -he states- For those with accessible water, prices prove unaffordable for farmers».
Because of all this, he already thinks that he is on the verge of an operation that he describes as “catastrophic”, and this is not only due to climatic factors, but also Also, due to almond prices hitting the bottom. “The Americans chained two large harvests, which led to only 2.70 euros per kilo being paid for almond kernels, whereas the minimum profitability should have been 5 euros,” he laments.
But almonds are not the only dryland crop affected by high temperatures. Cherry trees are also experiencing unusual behavior.This led to sporadic fruiting of some cherries in the Vall de Gallinera, one of the main production areas, in mid-January, almost four months before the start of the campaign.
Hilario Calabuig, President of the Montaña de Alicante Origin of Cherries, notes that this is a rather anecdotal situation, but previously some flowers appeared in December, again coinciding with a period of warmth. “We’re talking about something that’s purely testimonial,” he explains, “but it’s an indication that the trees haven’t had a winter rest when it’s their turn, and that can have consequences on the harvest.” As with the almond tree, there are bad campaigns in the cherry tree and these are always caused by weather conditions. Sometimes it is caused by heat, sometimes by drought, and most often by rain during the harvest season.
So, is what happened this year a one-time event, or will it happen again in the coming years? Fernando Maestre, professor of Ecology at the University of Alicante (UA) and winner of the National Research Award, makes it clear that this phenomenon is here to stay. As much as we will have to reduce irrigated areas due to drought and scarcity of water, it is also clear that We will face increasingly unpredictable production due to high temperatures in arid agriculturebut also due to untimely rain or frost.
Therefore, he believes that traditional dry land will gradually decline and be replaced by crops that are better adapted to current climatic conditions, such as pitahaya, among other possibilities. AND We encourage the industry to undertake changes quickly to make the reconversion as painless as possible.