In climate fight, Europe's farmers turn to tech and tradition
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network in Case Studies
In the face of extreme weather that has caused billions of euros in losses in both countries, farmers in Spain are rapidly rediscovering the traditional use of crops planted between trees to protect the soil in olive groves, while Italian counterparts are harnessing technology to make best use of water resources.
Spain and Italy are the world's top producers of olive oil, but the industry is under threat from desertification and drought, with Madrid saying more than a fifth of its land is at high risk of becoming infertile.
Italy, renowned for wines and pasta wheat, suffered one of its most severe droughts in 70 years in 2022. This year has seen another scorching summer, punctuated by damaging hailstorms in the north, in line with scientists' predictions for climate change in the region.
The Italian farming industry is the European Union's third-largest in terms of production value, behind France and Germany but ahead of Spain, which is in fourth place.
Andrea Ronca, who grows cereals for his family's cattle farm in the province of Mantua in northern Italy, uses satellite images to track where his land is driest.
"I can adjust irrigation at any time, even from my smartphone, avoiding any wastage," says Ronca, 35.
Spanish farmer Miguel Moreno was an early adopter of so-called cover crops. He began growing grasses alongside trees almost 30 years ago to stop water draining away down the hill on his 74-hectare olive grove in the southern region of Andalusia.
His son, Angel, said that before that large cracks would form where the soil eroded.
"You had to be careful because you could fit your foot in them," he said.
Angel Luis Moreno, an olive producer, shows live and dry cover crops in his olive grove, in Santiesteban del Puerto, near Jaen, Spain. | REUTERS
Cover crops are now used on about 30% of olive groves in Spain, according to Spain's agriculture ministry, with scientists and companies expecting rapid growth in the next few years.
Taxonomy
- Drought
- Drought-Resistant Technology