Algarve and Lower Alentejo in a state of moderate or weak drought

The Algarve and Lower Alentejo are currently in a state of moderate drought, or weak drought, after a very dry June, according to the Portuguese Met Office (IPMA).

in News · 07 Jul 2020, 09:37 · 2 Comments

Since October, it has rained 75% less than normal in the two regions.

According to the IPMA, at the end of June, there was a significant decrease in the percentage of water in the soil in the whole of the country compared to the end of May", whereas "in the lower Alentejo and in some parts of the Algarve those values are lower than 20%”.

More in News

Where are the safest airports for baggage claim?

In News, Portugal, Tourism - 28 May 2025, 19:02

Portugal offers great value in Europe’s 2025 camping scene

In News, Business, Portugal, Tourism - 28 May 2025, 18:02

Festival celebrating Lisbon’s Popular Saints like no other

In News, Portugal, Tourism, Events, Lisbon - 28 May 2025, 17:02

Comments

People in the area should get together and start planting trees not to allow Alentejo to turn into a desert!

By Anna from Madeira on 07 Jul 2020, 10:11

If the current cleaning of the land, with disc harrows, continues, what do land owners think will happen?
It's not rocket science.
If you expose the soil, the sun will evaporate the water, the ground water that is already lacking.
Cleaning with a rotating chain, if you must use machines, is the way to go. Of course the most environmentally efficient way is to graze pigs or goats across the land, but it is labour intensive and as far as I am aware, there are no agricultural subsidies for this, the ministry for agriculture missed a trick there. The trouble is that very few people think outside the box, they just keep on doing what their fathers did. They need to go back a couple of generations and think about how their great grandfathers,and grandmothers , did it in the past.

By Dave Lamb from Alentejo on 08 Jul 2020, 10:46