Malaga's subtropical fruit sector calls for extension of emergency irrigation measures into October

Growers in the Axarquía area to the east of Malaga province have been unable to access water resources from the La Viñuela reservoir since 1 October 2022 for the irrigation of the more than 6,500 hectares of land included in the Guaro Plan, which corresponds to areas located below 140 metres above sea level.

After the 'miraculous' rains that fell in the area at the end of March this year, the reservoir increased its reserves considerably, to the point where it stored 30 cubic hectometres, compared to just 15 at the same time in 2023.

As such, growers of subtropical crops, and in particular mangoes and avocados, have had access to an emergency supply of three cubic hectometres of water from the reservoir, which has meant an average of 485 cubic metres per hectare, available from 24 June to 27 September.

However, they argue that they have not used all of the resources available to them, so they have called upon the Junta de Andalucía to extend the availability of the allocation that has not been consumed into October.

According to Jaime Zaldúa, spokesperson and lawyer for subtropical fruit growers in the Axarquía, there is still "a considerable volume of unused water" having "made very rational use of the available resources or because they have had access to other sources", such as regenerated water or water from their own wells. Zaldúa went on to say that the growers "could carry out irrigation over a longer period of time to the benefit of crops", especially mangoes which are currently being harvested.

Otherwise, Zaldúa pointed out, "the campaign will close at the end of September, as agreed. It has been a little short, but it has been very good for the farms that were without alternative resources," Zaldúa said in statements to Cadena Ser radio in the Axarquía.

La Viñuela reservoir has 23.8 cubic hectometres of water, which is approximately 14.5 per cent of its total capacity. The situation was much worse a year ago, when the reservoir had only 13.3 cubic hectometres. March's rainfall brought some relief to the Axarquía reservoir, which is still in a situation of extreme drought, below the threshold of 41 hectometres.