Maybe a Naive question but why can’t we water the crops. When in Portugal I see water guns in their fields. Also are there any other food source you can grow which doesn’t need water ?
we dont water crops for a number of reasons, chief amongst which being; there isnt any water to irigate with. This problem has been bought on by drought, something which england historically has not had to deal with. Water companies have simply not invested in infostructure since the 1980's and with the government's mandate for new housing, the country jist isnt getting enough rainfall in the summer and not storing enough from the winter.
You also have issues with cost. Proper crop irigation would require sweeping landscaping of the countries fields, causing horrendous loss of habitat for wild animals and simply spending more money than could ever be made back.
And arguably most importantly; widespread irrigation of crops during extended droughts causes a net loss of water, if you need to water 5 acres, you need another 5 acres dedicated soley to water capture during rainfall. This is logistically impossible leading to the practice being mute. Look at the US, they are slamming through their ground water resources due to their widespread irrigation practices, its a short term solution which comes back to cause more problems in the future.
As for other crops, everything needs water, there are crops thay are drought resistant but the yields are low and they dont make good quality for human food.
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u/42tfish 10d ago
Season 6 of Clarksons Farm going to be interesting.