Watchdog’s Water Warning To Defra Minister
by Tim Barnes-Clay, LincsMag Writer.
Date: 16 June 2011
Sustained rainfall is needed to ensure cereal crops survive, a rural watchdog has said.
The Country Land and Business Association (CLA), which represents the interests of land owners and rural businesses in the Midlands and Lincolnshire, said it would take more than a few showers to ensure grain crops are brought to healthy levels.
The Association has warned that a drought could mean failed crops and higher food prices.
Risk of Failed Crops
CLA East Midlands director, Andrew Shirley, said: “Regardless of the recent rainfall, and further showers predicted for some parts over the next few days, we have been experiencing the second driest spring since records began.
“A drought status will mean a crackdown on farmers taking water from rivers to irrigate fields, increasing the risk of failed crops and causing the cost of food to rocket.”
Mr Shirley voiced his fears to Defra Minister, Jim Paice, during talks at Cereals 2011 in Lincolnshire this week.
He told Mr Paice that further reforms of the water abstraction licensing system, likely to be announced by Defra later this year, should not prevent land managers from receiving a fair allocation of water.
“Taking water from rivers and reservoirs is vital to ensure good harvests so that we can meet the demands of a growing global population,” said Mr Shirley.
