The East PacificBoard

Hit by drought, Ligur’s agricultural heartland feels the heat
By Pomptina Apellinus.

BUSALLA, Ligur - Under the scorching sun of a mid-August morning, Gorgines Candidius walks across a dusty, barren plot of land on his rice farm in the province of Busalla, in Savona. In a typical year, he’d be wading through 10 centimeters of water amid lush, waist-high rice plants. But today, the few stalks that have survived barely brush against his ankles, while the soil lies naked during the worst drought to hit the country in 70 years. The problem is especially concerning in the Ligurian Alps, where farmers like Candidus rely on water coming from the
Tiberinus River basin — Ligur’s largest reservoir of fresh water — to irrigate their crops and raise livestock, producing some 40 percent of the nation’s food. After months without heavy rainfall, compounded by a lack of snowfall during winter months and the early arrival of baking summer temperatures, the Tiberinus has now fallen to its lowest level in a century, prompting the government to declare a state of emergency in two regions and to enact restrictions including water rationing. Currently, farming is where the brunt of the crisis is being felt. Agriculture takes more water from the Tiberinus River than any other sector — about 70 percent of all the yearly withdrawals — and as water levels run low, there’s a real chance of losing most of the coming harvests. Something fundamental needs to change.

One of the most important products of the Tiberinus Valley, rice is particularly at risk, as the paddy fields need to be kept flooded with water for months for the plants to grow. “Water has more than halved this year,” recounts Candidus, whose family has been working this fertile land for generations. And to make up for the lack of rain and the low levels in reservoirs and rivers, he’s had to use water pumps, “which are very expensive and will push up prices for consumers,” he says. Still, Candidus is relatively lucky. He says that in places across Savona and Imperia, where about more than half of the countries rice is produced, some farmers received almost no water this season at all. However, the water shortage did force him to abandon some fields altogether and reduce irrigation. Instead of watering his paddies every eight days, he’s now stretching the gap up to 20 days, “with obvious consequences,” he says. Candidius still can't put an exact figure on how much he will end up losing at harvest, which takes place between September and October. However, he’s not optimistic: He estimates that nearly half of his rice crop is already gone, and with the plants that are still on the land growing poorly, he expects to lose almost the entire season.