Orchard growers make the choice to use limited water
to save high cost crops like almonds.
Transcript of the Audio Podcast:
Almond farm, photo courtesy ars.usda.gov
Choosing between almonds and tomatoes when water is scarce… on this CurrentCast.
California farmers grow eighty percent of the world’s almonds. They also grow a lot of other crops – like tomatoes. But long-lasting drought means many growers have to make a choice about which crops to water.
Doll: “Typically they’re going to divert water from annual crops to perennial crops. This is because if they don’t give enough water to these trees they’re going to die and they’re out the investment that it took to get these trees established and producing.”
That’s David Doll of the University of California Cooperative Extension. He says it takes about three years to get young almond trees to produce. Protecting that investment makes good business sense, but could lead to a shortage of other crops during dry years.
Support for CurrentCast comes from the Mitsubishi Corporation Foundation for the Americas. Learn more online at CurrentCast.org.
David Doll, University of California Cooperative Extension
Learn More:
“California Almonds Saved by Diverting Water From Veggies” from Bloomberg.com
University of California Cooperative Extension – Merced County
“Drought forces big changes among California growers” from the Seattle Times
“Alarm as almond farms consume California’s water” from The Guardian
“Almond farmers relying on groundwater to cope with drought” from ANR News Blog
