Brava: Farmers point to low vegetable production due to water shortage
Farmers on the island of Brava said today that this year's vegetable production was poor, due to the lack of water that has affected the island for several years, affecting the development of the agricultural sector.
In declarations to Inforpress, farmer Nelson Tavares pointed out that agriculture on the island has been weakening significantly due to the persistent shortage of water.
The development of agriculture in this municipality is weakening, due to the persistent shortage of water.
"The development of agriculture in this municipality is weakening, given the water problem that has existed for a long time," he said, stressing that this situation directly affects agricultural production and the daily lives of the population.
According to him, for both agriculture and animal husbandry, the availability of water has been insufficient throughout the island.
He also added that the farmers are waiting for the seawater desalination project to be completed, without, however, having a concrete date for it to start operating.
Faced with this reality, Nelson Tavares explained that many farmers resort to buying water transported in tanker trucks, despite the high costs and the frequent breakdowns of the vehicles, which makes access to this essential resource even more difficult.
"At the moment we have English potato, onion and tomato production, although it's low because of the lack of water. I have two people who work with me during the year, but life isn't easy on our island at the moment in this area," he said.
The farmer argued that the government should speed up the conclusion of the desalination plant project, considering that its start-up could represent a definitive solution to the water problem on the island of Brava.
"This is our hope for the resolution of this problem, but there is still no certain date for the project's operation. They said it would be in March and today it's April, but still nothing," he lamented.
Despite the difficulties, the farmer guarantees that he doesn't intend to give up farming.
"I'm not going to give up farming, because this is my job and my livelihood. Even with great difficulties, I'm going to keep fighting and working as long as I can, hoping that this problem affecting our area will be resolved as soon as possible," he concluded.
