A Faabu – Federation of Associations of Baixo Alentejo sent a letter to the Minister of Agriculture, Maria do CĂ©u Antunes, where he expresses his concerns about some issues related to the management of water in the irrigation of Alqueva.
In the letter sent to the Minister, FAABA officials call for “a serious debate with farmers and their associations to define the future of water management for irrigation. We also understand that the tariff for the current campaign should remain at levels similar to those practiced in the previous campaign”.
In the document, the FAABA expressed its concerns to the minister about some issues related to the management of water in the Alqueva irrigation system., presented by EDIA at the recent CAR Alqueva meeting held in 31/01/2023, namely “the new price list for water and its usage plan, very important issues that deserved a wide debate with the farmers, but before the start of programming, either from the agricultural campaign, either from the irrigation campaign”.
The Federation points out as an example the fact that farmers were confronted with a water use plan within EFMA, with a new rule (disapproved of by all associations present): “Whoever rules more than 5 ha as unauthorized precarious, will be penalized in 20% in the water to be supplied. Does not make sense, since EDIA will only supply water to the area within the perimeter and based on the approved allocations for the various crops”, justifying that EDIA “presented a methodology for calculating the new water price based on the company’s fixed and variable charges, which is by no means acceptable., Remata.
In light of what was stated in the missive, FAABA asks Maria do Céu Antunes “a serious debate with farmers and their associations to define the future of water management for irrigation. We also understand that the tariff for the current campaign should remain at levels similar to those practiced in the previous campaign”.
