Malta has recorded its driest January in 13 years, with only three days of rain all month, according to figures released by the Meteorological Office.
In data that will concern farmers relying on rainfall to cultivate crops, just 14.8 millimetres was recorded. That’s a sixth of the average amount of precipitation for January, making it one of the driest in decades.
The last time a new year began with such an arid spell was back in 2007, when 8.6mm of rainfall was recorded. One would have to go back to 1983 to find an even drier January, with 8.5mm.
A spokesman for the Met Office said: “There has been a trend of Januarys getting drier since 2010. We saw 106mm in 2011 and then it started to gradually decrease little by little since then.”
Malcolm Borg, deputy director for the Centre of Agriculture, Aquatics & Animal Sciences at MCAST, said farmers were the worst impacted.
Januarys have been getting drier since 2010
He said that over the last eight to 10 years, dry spells have increased with fewer years of rainfall to compensate. These have, “become the exception not the rule. We used to expect a lot of rain in January but it has been dropping.”
Farmers need rain for crops and to refill underground water sources used during dry seasons. With less rain, crops fail and there is a lower yield, Mr Borg said.
At their own expense, farmers are irrigating their fields using water pumped from underground aquifers or bringing in water bowsers in emergency situations. However, while farmers rely on ground water for crops to grow in dry periods, they still need rainwater to refill the aquifers.
He said this is a worrying situation for farmers and food production because it increases their costs to produce. They are the first victim to extreme climate events like storms and droughts.
“It also has a knock-on effect for farmers who produce wheat as their main crop. They can’t make animal fodder for cows and in turn it affects milk production,” he added.
Mr Borg suggested that coordination with foreign institutes, agricultural departments and farming experts providing technical advice to Maltese farmers to manage their soil and water use, would help them adapt to dry spells and produce “more crop per drop.”
He was hopeful that recent research he participated in with experts from Spain, the United Kingdom and Italy would allow for this.
The multi-national cooperation which took place between 2017 and 2019, recommended more effective ways of using water in semi-arid farming.