“We appeal to all government entities that oversee this area, to help us, because without help I don't know how we will be able to survive with a plant that requires water and that is also the ex-libris of this territory”, the president of the Association of Irrigators and Beneficiaries of Silves, Lagoa and Portimão told Lusa.

João Garcia fears that the lack of water will lead to significant drops in normal production in the largest citrus producing region of the country, a situation that could also lead to the “disappearance” of this crop in the Algarve municipality.

According to data from this association, the agricultural perimeter of Silves, Lagoa and Portimão has 90% of its agricultural land dedicated to citrus production and 50% of Portuguese production in this subsector is cultivated in the first of these municipalities.

“The situation is very worrying, we are facing a problem of severe drought and a problem of lack of water in this area”, insists João Garcia.

The farmer recalls that “since 2019 there has been practically no rainfall in this territory” and that in the last three years there has been “water rationing”.

“But we’ve reached a point where we don’t have water. So this is the most worrying situation,” he said.

João Garcia assures that, if the drought, as it appears, continues, “[orange] production will fall”, with all the consequences that this will have, such as rising prices and a decrease in exports.

In recent months, the importance of building the desalination plant planned for the Algarve has been increasingly discussed, as well as the possibility of transferring water from the North to the South of the country.

“We hope that all these projects will be carried out, but our biggest concern is tomorrow, and tomorrow we won’t have water […] and it’s been almost two months since our farmers haven’t had water to give to their orchards”, lamented João Garcia.