The future of San Joaquin Valley farming could be ‘dryland farming’
Often touted as the breadbasket of the world, California’s San Joaquin Valley is the most agriculturally productive region on Earth with over 250 different crops grown. But the area is also a well-irrigated desert, and years of below-average rain and snowfall have dried up its relatively few water sources. So far, farmers in the region have fallowed approximately 100,000 acres of farmland. Experts believe that by 2040, drought may force up to 500,000 acres to be fallowed. … The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) released two reports and held a webinar Tuesday to discuss both fallowing of land and the resulting dust pollution as well as a solution: dryland farming.
Related article:
- Northern California Water Association: A Picture of the Devastating Impacts of the Drought in the Sacramento Valley