• In the Pyrénées-Orientales, in the grip of a historic drought, red apricot producers in Roussillon are facing a real disaster.
  • Some farmers watch helplessly as their orchards die, while others fight to save their crops to recover some water.
  • "Beyond the harvest, we play the culture, there, confides Denis Basserie, arborist in the department. It is the life of the trees, which is at stake today. »

There is hardly a single drop of water left in the Agly valley (Pyrénées-Orientales). On the left bank of the river, dry for a long time, Guy Banyuls is devastated. This producer of red apricots from Roussillon, stars of the department, watches, helplessly, the slow death of his orchard, ravaged by drought. "We have no water at all, the boreholes are completely dry," says this farmer from Espira-de-l'Agly. Restrictions or not, you can't water. The orchards are dying. And the fruit would not go away, if ever, by some miracle, it rained. "It's a shame, because we weren't that far from the harvest," he continues. But the trees won't make it. »

Guy Banyuls, who set up Chez Roberte in 2009, is no longer even mourning his apricot harvest of the year. Now he thinks about the future. "I don't know what measures will be put in place [by the state]," he said. But now, it is the survival of farms in the long term that we must think. »

"I asked employees to scrutinize, and repair the slightest leak, to try to recover water"

Denis Basserie, who also produces apricots in the Pyrénées-Orientales, has not yet quite drawn a line under his harvest this year. But the drought, coupled with numerous water restrictions, will also mark this season with a red cross. So, in his orchard, in Rivesaltes, he is both "angry and unhappy", confides this farmer, and president of the Société d'aménagement foncier et d'établissement rural (Safer) of the Pyrénées-Orientales. "This morning, we didn't even have a bar in the irrigation systems," he continues. There is almost no water left, it is a real disaster. And nothing can be done. Almost. I asked employees to scrutinize, and repair the slightest leak, to try to recover a little bit of water. That's all we talk about, all day, all the time. Water, water, water... »

Denis Basserie does not, unfortunately, have too many illusions about his apricots this year. "They won't make it to the end," he sighs. Already we suffer now, at the beginning of May, so in June, what will it be... Beyond the harvest, we play the culture, there. It is the life of the trees, which is at stake today. I am sick of it. And all my buddies, too. The arborist, who is very involved locally in defending the farmer, sees only one lasting solution, for the moment, to this drought, which is likely to be repeated: the construction of water reservoirs, which will preserve the rains for bad days. "We know that there will be fewer rainy episodes now, but that they will be intense," continues Denis Basserie. We have to be able to store water. Otherwise, without water, we will not get anywhere. »

At Véronique's organic orchard, "we were already watering, at a minimum, in relation to the needs of the plant"

Jean Pratx, apricot producer at Verger bio de Véronique, is following this water war very closely, which is being played out in the Pyrénées-Orientales. "A decree was supposed to fall, it was postponed to May 10, he explains. After May 10, we don't know... But this Catalan arborist, based in Rivesaltes and Claira, did not wait for the department to turn red, to reduce the watering of his orchard. "Here, everything is drip-by-drip, with programmers," he says. We choose the durations, and the hours of watering. We also have probes, which measure moisture in the soil, to restrict irrigation. We were already watering, at a minimum, in relation to the needs of the plant. »

Then, at the end of winter, the first restrictions fell, calling on farmers to use water to a minimum. At Vergerique bio, irrigation has been reduced by about 40%. This is more than the 25% effort required by the state services. "We did more, because we thought that if ever, in the middle of summer, we are told 'You are no longer allowed to water at all', trees can die in just a few weeks," continues Jean Pratx. If we stop them all at once, it can go, very, very fast. So by lowering the watering by more than a third, right away, the orchard gets used to the lack of water.

"The fruits are more difficult to grow than usual," laments an arborist from the Pyrénées-Orientales

But, in any case, it will not be the most beautiful year, he laments, for the red apricots of Roussillon. "The fruits have a harder time getting fat than usual, they should lose a little size," explains Jean Pratx. And often, it's the caliber that makes the price. The risk is significant loss of turnover. But the most important thing, right away, is to be able to pick the fruits. And above all, save the trees. However, some apricot producers are getting away with it, despite the arid climate in the department. In Latour-Bas-Elne, near Argelès-sur-Mer, Frédéric Capbet has no fears about the future of his harvest this year. "At the moment, the [ground] water table is maintained," says the farmer, who uses a drip system for his orchard. I manage to respect the efforts of water restrictions, without worries. But I offer my products for direct sale, so, well, I don't run after calibers. »

OUR FILE ON THE SéCHERESSE

Apricot producers are not the only ones suffering from drought in the Pyrénées-Orientales. The fishing culture, the other star of Roussillon, is also heavily affected. As for the vines, if a milder climate does not emerge in a few months, the vintage may also be in the bright red.

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