Battle for water in the Algarve : farmers innovate to keep their soil fertile

euronews (in English)

In the Algarve, a region of southern Portugal regularly hit by drought, farmers are showing the way towards rational consumption of the water they have to share with millions of tourists.

Transcript

00:00Look at this. Nothing gets in here. Nothing.

00:03If a drop falls here, it's gone.

00:09Water is rare in Algarve, a tourist paradise in the south of Portugal.

00:14Who realizes it as soon as they land.

00:17In recent years, it has been raining little and thousands of hectares of plantations are threatened.

00:22So how to make sure that there will be enough water, both for tourists and for farmers?

00:27Well, by changing our practices a bit. That's what we're going to see.

00:30Albufeira Balneary

00:35On the heights of the Albufeira Balneary, the Quinta do Canhoto is a vineyard that offers visits and tastings.

00:42And if good wine makes tourists smile, the reality is more difficult in the vineyards.

00:47It is said a lot that there will be a shortage of water in the future.

00:50No, there is no shortage here. We have to live with the restrictions.

00:56The vineyard relies on technology.

00:59An underground irrigation system has reduced water consumption by limiting evaporation.

01:04These connected probes measure the humidity of the soil in real time and allow watering when necessary.

01:11Normally, we used to irrigate four or six days in advance.

01:15We can delay the irrigation for another two or three days.

01:19This means that at the end of a campaign, there is less water and the irrigation is better.

01:24And the quality of the wine is much better.

01:30These winemakers are accompanied by the Portuguese association Smart Farm Collab,

01:34which wants to democratize technology in the vineyards.

01:37Conscientialization has to be the basis for promoting biodiversity,

01:43taking care of natural resources and the soil.

01:46And obviously, taking care of all these aspects, we can have a well-kept and improved agriculture.

01:55We took the road towards the Quinta do Freixo, an organic farm of 800 hectares.

02:03Against drought, the owner relies on regenerative agriculture.

02:07And for his soil to remain covered, he relies on his animals.

02:11We tend to think that sheep only survive if there is grazing.

02:16But without sheep, there is no grazing either, because this is an interdependence.

02:20For each percentage of organic matter that is incorporated into the soil,

02:23we increase in many cubic meters its ability to capture water.

02:29The farm, which has turned its back on agriculture, has invested in ecotourism.

02:35Our solution here was tourism and becoming our biggest consumers.

02:40And this allows us to have more interesting margins,

02:43and therefore to have a viable business and a protected environment.

02:50Nothing like a fig from Algarve to regain energy.

02:53It's your favorite fruit, isn't it?

02:54See you soon on the road in Water Matters.

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