Queretaro, Qro. The entire territory of Querétaro currently reports some degree of drought, according to the state Secretariat of Agricultural Development (Sedea).
In addition to these climatic conditions, the 26 main dams in the state are below 50% of their capacity, explained the head of Sedea, Rosendo Anaya Aguilar.
“Now we have all the municipalities (with drought). A week and a half ago I was in Mexico City, we were seeing the panorama and at a general level the state remains in conditions in which there has been no rain; the drought is affecting the entire state, at the moment”, he exposed.
However, no death of livestock or damage of any kind has been reported. The secretary added that he held a meeting with members of the Querétaro Regional Livestock Union (UGRQ), who so far have not recorded economic losses.
“The spring-summer cycle is going to start, in the next few months we will be seeing what level the affectation was, it is a little later when the rains start,” he explained.
Of the surface of the state, 39% is in abnormally dry conditions, 29.9% in moderate drought and 31.1% in severe drought, according to the National Water Commission (Conagua).
Strategy
Therefore, the unit is preparing to take out catastrophic damage insurance to deal with future claims that could affect both livestock and agricultural production.
It is expected to have a coverage for 90,000 hectares: 70,000 hectares for rainfed surface and, for the first time, irrigation surface will be included, for which it is expected to have a coverage for 20,000 hectares.
In the next few days, producers who were affected in 2021 will be compensated, through insurance against inclement weather, after 19,000 hectares of storm were lost; in this it is expected to exercise a bag of 32 million pesos.
“The one that was had right now (the insurance bag) is 32 million pesos, which is going to be compensated; after monitoring the entire state, it is what is going to be distributed (…) For 2021 there was only insurance against damage from inclement weather, only in storms, but for this 2022 the coverage for plots will be expanded of irrigation”, explained Rosendo Anaya.
Similarly, he announced that in the coming weeks support programs will be opened to rehabilitate boards, in order to have greater storage capacity.
Although it has begun to rain in parts of the city of Querétaro and the southern part of the state, the rainfall has been negligible to mitigate the drought conditions.
“We are already bringing the first rains, we hope that in the near future this will continue to contribute so that the recharges are maintained, mainly in the dams in which, fortunately, at this time, most still have a certain amount of water, for irrigation and supply. of animals,” he explained.
This year the rainy season is expected to start earlier than last year, due to the fact that in 2021 there was a prolonged drought and the rains began in May.
For the rest of the week in the state, intervals of showers of 5 to 25 millimeters are expected, as well as isolated rains of 0.1 to 5 millimeters, details the National Meteorological Service (SMN).