The drought generates crisis in Guanajuato’s countryside

Published May 30, 2021 (sp)
Alejandra Sánchez | El Sol de León

The lack of rainfall and programs has caused agricultural activity to operate at half its capacity.

The countryside in Guanajuato is going through its worst crisis in the last 30 years due to the lack of rain that has caused agricultural activity to operate at 50 percent of its capacity, and also due to the disappearance of programs that help the technification of producers, said Rubén Vázquez de la Rosa, legal representative of the Committee for the Improvement of Guanajuato’s Agriculture.

More than 10,000 farmers in 14 municipalities in the state are going through difficult times, because of working 70 hectares, only 35 have been able to work due to the lack of rain, said Vázquez de la Rosa.

As a solution to the drought problem, he urged the technification of the field, which consists of investing in wells and technologies to consume less water from the state’s aquifers.

With the technification of wells, up to two billion liters of water could be saved for each one, automatically providing 50 liters of water per person per day, so the people would benefit because the aquifers could be reserved for other activities, while the wells would feed the fields, explained the representative of the Committee for the Improvement of Agriculture.

Vázquez de la Rosa pointed out that the National Water Commission (Conagua) grants concessions of up to 6,000 cubic meters of water per year to farmers; however, they exceed up to double the permitted amount, due to the lack of technification of the wells.

The farmer’s representative said that inflation has affected even more the field, since everything has increased for their activity, and gave as an example that the PVC pipes that used to cost 330 pesos now have a price of 900 pesos; the aurea began the year with a value of six thousand pesos and now reaches 12 thousand pesos.

Vázquez de la Rosa explained that they also require support for the purchase of diesel for the tractors they work with, because in order to operate they use up to 200 liters to cover a harvest, which is equivalent to 1,400 pesos, so when working more than 100,000 hectares they invest a lot in fuel.

In addition, in the past, support was not considered for farmers of between five and 10 hectares, however, now producers of 15 to 20 hectares are left out, which leaves a lot of crops uncultivated, mainly legumes, which is a worrying panorama for the country.