加州干旱可能提高生菜價格

既然加利福尼亞的農民已經開始為應對嚴重的干旱而放棄田地，消費者可能會在全國的雜貨店為春季生菜和夏季瓜支付更高的價格。在正常年份，加利福尼亞州席卷中部的中央谷地種植了該國大部分的水果和蔬菜，但由于該州陷入了近二十年來最嚴重的干旱之中，今年冬天成千上萬英畝的土地正變成塵土。

 

加州農業綜合企業的巨頭是該山谷最大的經濟引擎，夏季，貨架上每只哈密瓜都出產哈密瓜，每年春季和秋季，該國大部分的生菜都在種植。今年，弗雷斯諾縣的官員預測農民將僅種植約6000英畝的生菜，大約是2005年種植綠色蔬菜的一半。僅此，這可能會導致消費者價格小幅上漲，除非生菜公司能夠通過種植來彌補短缺專家說，在水源充足的地區，或者農作物的冷卻，包裝和運輸成本突然下降。美國農業經濟學家加里·盧西爾（Gary Lucier）表示：“萵苣從田野中直接進入市場，如果沒有任何東西離開田野，那么營銷鏈就會枯竭，價格會上漲。”

 

盡管干旱天氣加劇了這個問題，但農民的水災并不完全與干旱有關。幾項法院判決削減了流經薩克拉曼多-圣華金河三角洲（Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta）的淡水河口的水量，這是向約三分之二的加利福尼亞人供水的主要管道，因此，作物和城市的供水也受到限制。環保組織和聯邦科學家說，三角洲的巨大水泵是將本土魚類推向滅絕邊緣的因素之一。

 

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.”

 

同時，這一預測似乎在惡化：氣象學家正在預測春季將是干旱，而一項新的州調查顯示，受威脅魚類的數量處于42年來的最低點，比以前所認為的受害更大。弗雷斯諾縣農業副專員托馬斯·尼伯格說：“這不僅給野草w的人帶來了毀滅性影響，而且還影響了整個農業產業。” “我只是在祈求下雨。”

 

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

賈斯汀（Justin）發表