Comments - Crop Shortages - Earth Changes and the Pole Shift2024-03-28T13:44:17Zhttps://poleshift.ning.com/profiles/comment/feed?attachedTo=3863141%3ABlogPost%3A1152059&xn_auth=noSpain's olive oil producers d…tag:poleshift.ning.com,2022-08-29:3863141:Comment:11529862022-08-29T13:37:34.047ZYvonne Lawsonhttps://poleshift.ning.com/profile/YvonneLawson
<h1 class="ssrcss-15xko80-StyledHeading e1fj1fc10" id="main-heading">Spain's olive oil producers devastated by worst ever drought</h1>
<p><img alt="Jaén province" height="364" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/14133/production/_126472228_mediaitem126472227.jpg" width="647"></img></p>
<p><span>Jaén province generates half of all Spanish oil</span></p>
<div class="ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00"><b class="ssrcss-hmf8ql-BoldText e5tfeyi3">Francisco Elvira picks his way through his scorched olive grove, stopping…</b></p>
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<h1 id="main-heading" class="ssrcss-15xko80-StyledHeading e1fj1fc10">Spain's olive oil producers devastated by worst ever drought</h1>
<p><img src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/14133/production/_126472228_mediaitem126472227.jpg" alt="Jaén province" width="647" height="364"/></p>
<p><span>Jaén province generates half of all Spanish oil</span></p>
<div class="ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00"><b class="ssrcss-hmf8ql-BoldText e5tfeyi3">Francisco Elvira picks his way through his scorched olive grove, stopping to inspect the stunted fruit on almost-bare trees.</b></p>
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<div class="ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">"Look at them," he says in desperation. "They ought to be bursting with olives now, close to the harvest. But they're empty. And this is the crop that should produce the oil in supermarkets next year."</p>
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<div class="ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">The fertile plains full of olive trees that stretch across southern Spain have made this country the world's biggest producer of olive oil, accounting for around half of the global supply.</p>
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<div class="ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">But devastated by its worst drought ever recorded, Spain's so-called "green gold" is becoming rarer. This year's yield is down by around a third already - and there's still no sign of rain.</p>
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<div class="ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">At the Interóleo factory in Jaén, a province that generates half of all Spanish oil, pumps spurt it into glass and plastic bottles, which pass along the conveyor belt to be labelled "product of Spain".</p>
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<div class="ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">But the plant, which exports to countries including the UK, is seeing production plummet and prices soar, exacerbating the global food crisis.</p>
<p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00"><strong>It's a similar picture across the agricultural sector, with recent research finding that parts of the Iberian peninsula are their driest in 1,200 years.</strong></p>
<p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00"><strong><img src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/98D7/production/_126472193_mediaitem126472192.jpg" alt="Isabel Villegas" width="659" height="371"/></strong></p>
<p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">Sunflower farmers like Isabel Villegas are struggling</p>
<div class="ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">As she rips up the dead sunflowers from her parched fields, Isabel Villegas contemplates whether to try again.</p>
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<div class="ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">"If it doesn't rain by the end of the year, it makes no sense to plant more," she says. "That would just be like throwing money at the land for no harvest. And there's no rain forecast for now."</p>
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<div class="ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">A recent report by the Global Drought Observatory concluded that Europe is suffering its worst drought in 500 years.</p>
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<div class="ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">Several countries across the continent have been battling wildfires and heatwaves, with Spain particularly badly hit. More than 270,000 hectares here have been burnt this year, according to the European Forest Fire Information System.</p>
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<div class="ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">The extreme heat and lack of rainfall have led to a dramatic drop in levels of Spain's natural water reserves. The Vinuela reservoir near Malaga is at just over 10% of its capacity.</p>
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<div class="ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">Elsewhere, medieval waterfront villages, long buried beneath rivers, have been exposed as the water evaporates.</p>
<p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">Read more: <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-62707435" target="_blank">https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-62707435</a></p>
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