In the Algarve, a region of southern Portugal regularly hit by drought, farmers are showing the way towards rational consumption of the water they have to share with millions of tourists.
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00:00Look at this. Nothing gets in here. Nothing.
00:03If a drop falls here, it's gone.
00:09Water is rare in Algarve, a tourist paradise in the south of Portugal.
00:14Who realizes it as soon as they land.
00:17In recent years, it has been raining little and thousands of hectares of plantations are threatened.
00:22So how to make sure that there will be enough water, both for tourists and for farmers?
00:27Well, by changing our practices a bit. That's what we're going to see.
00:30Albufeira Balneary
00:35On the heights of the Albufeira Balneary, the Quinta do Canhoto is a vineyard that offers visits and tastings.
00:42And if good wine makes tourists smile, the reality is more difficult in the vineyards.
00:47It is said a lot that there will be a shortage of water in the future.
00:50No, there is no shortage here. We have to live with the restrictions.
00:56The vineyard relies on technology.
00:59An underground irrigation system has reduced water consumption by limiting evaporation.
01:04These connected probes measure the humidity of the soil in real time and allow watering when necessary.
01:11Normally, we used to irrigate four or six days in advance.
01:15We can delay the irrigation for another two or three days.
01:19This means that at the end of a campaign, there is less water and the irrigation is better.
01:24And the quality of the wine is much better.
01:30These winemakers are accompanied by the Portuguese association Smart Farm Collab,
01:34which wants to democratize technology in the vineyards.
01:37Conscientialization has to be the basis for promoting biodiversity,
01:43taking care of natural resources and the soil.
01:46And obviously, taking care of all these aspects, we can have a well-kept and improved agriculture.
01:55We took the road towards the Quinta do Freixo, an organic farm of 800 hectares.
02:03Against drought, the owner relies on regenerative agriculture.
02:07And for his soil to remain covered, he relies on his animals.
02:11We tend to think that sheep only survive if there is grazing.
02:16But without sheep, there is no grazing either, because this is an interdependence.
02:20For each percentage of organic matter that is incorporated into the soil,
02:23we increase in many cubic meters its ability to capture water.
02:29The farm, which has turned its back on agriculture, has invested in ecotourism.
02:35Our solution here was tourism and becoming our biggest consumers.
02:40And this allows us to have more interesting margins,
02:43and therefore to have a viable business and a protected environment.
02:50Nothing like a fig from Algarve to regain energy.
02:53It's your favorite fruit, isn't it?
02:54See you soon on the road in Water Matters.