加州干旱可能提高生菜价格

既然加利福尼亚的农民已经开始为应对严重的干旱而放弃田地，消费者可能会在全国的杂货店为春季生菜和夏季瓜支付更高的价格。在正常年份，加利福尼亚州席卷中部的中央谷地种植了该国大部分的水果和蔬菜，但由于该州陷入了近二十年来最严重的干旱之中，今年冬天成千上万英亩的土地正变成尘土。

 

加州农业综合企业的巨头是该山谷最大的经济引擎，夏季，货架上每只哈密瓜都出产哈密瓜，每年春季和秋季，该国大部分的生菜都在种植。今年，弗雷斯诺县的官员预测农民将仅种植约6000英亩的生菜，大约是2005年种植绿色蔬菜的一半。仅此，这可能会导致消费者价格小幅上涨，除非生菜公司能够通过种植来弥补短缺专家说，在水源充足的地区，或者农作物的冷却，包装和运输成本突然下降。美国农业经济学家加里·卢西尔（Gary Lucier）表示：“莴苣从田野中直接进入市场，如果没有任何东西离开田野，那么营销链就会枯竭，价格会上涨。”

 

尽管干旱天气加剧了这个问题，但农民的水灾并不完全与干旱有关。几项法院判决削减了流经萨克拉曼多-圣华金河三角洲（Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta）的淡水河口的水量，这是向约三分之二的加利福尼亚人供水的主要管道，因此，作物和城市的供水也受到限制。环保组织和联邦科学家说，三角洲的巨大水泵是将本土鱼类推向灭绝边缘的因素之一。

 

Last year, federal water deliveries were just 40 percent of the normal allocations, fallowing hundreds of thousands of acres and causing nearly $309 million in crop losses statewide. That prompted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to issue a disaster declaration, ordering state water managers to expedite any requests to move water around the state, in part so high-value crops like wine grapes, almonds and pistachio trees would stand a chance of surviving. Federal reservoirs are now at their lowest level since 1992.

 

With such a grim outlook, many California farmers including Giacone are investing millions to drill down hundreds of feet in search of new water sources. Depending on how much it rains this winter, federal water supplies could be slashed down to nothing this year, forcing farmers to rely solely on brackish well water. But the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation won’t make an official decision until late February, said Ron Milligan, the agency’s Central Valley operations manager. The state Department of Water Resources, which also ships farmers water, has promised to deliver 15 percent of the normal allocations in October, but conditions are so dire that that’s now in doubt, too.

 

“The consequences are expected to be pretty horrible in terms of farmers’ revenue, but what’s really disconcerting are the possible job losses,” said Wendy Martin, who leads the agency’s drought division. “Those communities that can least weather an economic downturn are going to be some of the places that are hit the hardest.” Richard Howitt, a professor of agriculture economics at the University of California, Davis, estimates that $1.6 billion in agriculture-related wages, and as many as 60,000 jobs across the valley will be lost in the coming months due to dwindling water.

 

Analysts haven’t yet provided any estimates of crop losses this year. But Bill Diedrich, an almond grower on the valley’s parched western edge, said he’s already worried he may lose some of his nut trees in the drought. “The real story here is food security,” Diedrich told Milligan and other officials speaking at a conference in Reno, Nev. “It’s an absolute emergency and anything to get water flowing quickly is needed.”

 

同时，这一预测似乎在恶化：气象学家正在预测春季将是干旱，而一项新的州调查显示，受威胁鱼类的数量处于42年来的最低点，比以前所认为的受害更大。弗雷斯诺县农业副专员托马斯·尼伯格说：“这不仅给野草w的人带来了毁灭性影响，而且还影响了整个农业产业。” “我只是在祈求下雨。”

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28843318/

贾斯汀（Justin）发表