GAF
Drought threatens various crops
A tense situation is recorded these days in the province of Las Tunas, whose agriculture is mostly rainfed; that is, the producers do not contribute to the irrigation of the crops, but prepare the land and plant only with the favor of the rains.
However, the consequences of the persistent lack of rainfall are seen every day on household tables, where some items are missing or are purchased at high prices, despite the alternatives that are put into practice to produce more. The collective hopes are focused on the recently started spring planting campaign, an important stage to guarantee the food, grains, fruits and vegetables that the population demands, since it is at this time when the wet season begins. Among the peasants, usufructuaries of idle land and the workers of the state entities of the agricultural sector, there is a constant longing for the rains, because the little water stored in the dams and the insufficient areas under irrigation complicate the current circumstances. The most difficult situation is in the reservoirs that supply the municipality of Jobabo, since the Cayojo dam supplies the population and reduces the amount destined for agricultural tasks. The area of ??Gayol, in Puerto Padre, is also worrying; the reservoir that feeds the seven irrigation machines in that area is dry. In that place an investment is planned soon that implies the transfer of the liquid from La Breñosa to La Cana. In addition, specialists from the delegation of the Ministry of Agriculture pointed out that a notable deterioration in the irrigation systems is reported in the territory, after many years of exploitation without support of parts and pieces for its maintenance. This deteriorated technology only covers about six thousand hectares, barely 16 percent of the total areas dedicated to various crops, which is a stumbling block in the general objective of planting and harvesting in a sustained manner and in all municipalities. Against this background, several measures are adopted to increase production levels and one of them is the extraction of groundwater from wells using windmills and other accessories. The future looks difficult; but, as always, alternatives will apply.
