Farmers must change irrigation practices

Climate change is pointing at us "like a loaded gun", warned the EU Agriculture Commissioner at a conference on water policy last Friday.

"Global warming is happening," said Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel, adding, "It's taken thousands of years for global temperatures to rise by just one degree. In this century we expect to see an increase in global temperatures of between two and six degrees Celsius."

Speaking at a conference on sustainable water use in agriculture, Boel, a self-confessed "farmer's wife", highlighted that farmers were in the firing line of climate change. If they didn't start investing in water-saving techniques, there would be no need for the EU to impose penalties as "they will punish themselves".

The conference was held on the sidelines of the Expo Zaragosa 2008 in Spain, dedicated to issues of water and sustainable development. Chairing the conference was Cyprus' Antonis Constantinou, Commission director at DG Agriculture and Rural Development.

The Commissioner said the southern European countries would bear the brunt of climate change, with water shortages becoming more widespread.

"Maybe there are areas that will benefit from this, like in the north, but we expect climate change to leave a wave of destruction. We expect more heat waves, drought, floods and crop failures," said Boer.

She noted that droughts in the EU have become more frequent and serious in the past three decades. From 1976 to 2006, the number of people affected by drought increased by 20 per cent.

"Climate change has arrived. Drought has arrived. We need to take out insurance now. Good business sense demands better use of water. For those farmers caught unprepared, climate change could be a sledge hammer," said Boel.

The EU is proposing an additional €10 billion in funding, co-financed by the member states, to tackle the challenges facing the agricultural sector.