Concept issues (and 2)

It is not going to rain more than it is raining, nor is it going to rain better. The thirsty southeast, paradoxically, is subjected to periodic episodes of violent rains that require defensive treatment in better sewage systems or diversion of certain waterways.

In terms of water use, the details of agricultural water productivity remain to be written, that is, the added value per cubic meter of water granted and used in which, without moving away from the Mediterranean, we would find a great diversity of examples of everything type that would give rise to deep and useful reflections beyond the emotional appeals to the generic protection of agriculture.

Probably, it would be seen that there Special Data are crops and agricultural practices that are comfortably maintained, others that require redesigns or strategic changes, and others that require protection or certain guarantees.

We older people remember the administrative units of Agrarian Extension that, depending on the Ministry - and later transferred to the autonomous communities - were applied to the dissemination of agricultural knowledge and practices in the agricultural and livestock field. Wikipedia reminds us that the field of agricultural extension reaches a wide range composed of communications and learning activities organized for " rural " populations by professionals from different disciplines, including agriculture, health, and business and marketing studies.

However, what I have observed, at least in Catalonia, is that since 1986, when Spain entered the European Economic Community, these departments were preferably dedicated to processing subsidies within the framework of the Community Agricultural Policy. I do not remember any protests from agricultural organizations for abandoning these training functions. Field training was practically left in the hands of agrochemical marketing companies.

The use of water was taken for granted. For decades, where there was one, neither the hydraulic administration nor the sector considered it necessary to improve the productivity of this factor, nor was the need to intervene in the discharge programs of large hydroelectric plants considered.

It seems that the time has come. The awareness has spread that we are at a non-circumstantial limit that requires fundamental strategic approaches. We have little water in relation to needs and we must activate the lever to improve the administration of the public resource and optimize its productivity , understood as sectoral and intersectoral productivity.

But there are other factors to consider:

Our forests have grown significantly due to the abandonment of marginal agricultural land , especially in river headwaters in areas with significant slopes. Trees are large consumers of water and responsible for much of the reduction in headwater flows. So forest management must address both water consumption and fire risks.

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