Nuts producers in Portugal do “efficient” water management, spending “30 to 40 percent less” than their counterparts in the United States (US), a study by the Portugal Nuts association revealed today.

“There is really good efficiency in water use and this crop, besides being very well adapted to the climate and soil conditions we have in the Alqueva region, reveals an efficient utility of water,” Tiago Costa, president of Portugal Nuts Association for the Promotion of Dried Fruits, told Lusa news agency.

According to the leader, this is one of the conclusions of the study “Water needs of dried fruit crops in the main production areas”, presented this morning in Beja, at the 2nd Congress of Portugal Nuts.

According to Tiago Costa, the study, developed in partnership with the Real Academia de Ingeneria de Madrid (Spain), shows that nuts and dried fruit are, in Portugal, “a very efficient crop and that, with the technology used, adds a lot of value to the use of a scarce resource” such as water.

“It is one of the crops that uses water in a very efficient way and that will allow us to be not only self-sufficient, but also to add value to the trade balance,” he stressed.

The president of Portugal Nuts, an association that represents 50 producers and processors from all over the country, added that dried fruit production in Portugal consumes “30 to 40% less water” than in the US, a reference market in this sector.

A result that is due, on the one hand, to the use of drip irrigation systems in the farms and, on the other hand, to the use of different varieties,  with a different behavior.

Besides this, he added, in Alqueva, where there are about 25,000 hectares producing dry fruits, “there are also few losses [of water], because most of the system uses pressure irrigation, and there are no problems of evapotranspiration or losses.

“All this presupposes that we have fewer losses and that all the water we use is utilized in a much more efficient way,” he said.

For Tiago Costa, this reality makes the production of nuts and dried fruit in Portugal “more sustainable at all levels,” having simultaneously a smaller carbon footprint when compared to other producing markets.

“In Europe we have a deficit in all dried fruits, especially in almonds, which are mostly imported from the US or Australia. Basically, we are bringing a product with a very long carbon footprint for our consumption”, he reinforced.

The president of Portugal Nuts added that the country has, for all this, conditions to grow in this sector.

“We see here an opportunity of climate and soil, added to the availability of water, which gives us the possibility to be competitive and create this industry, to supply Europe with products [nuts] of European origin,” he concluded.

Source: Agroportal.pt