Last update - 00:00 21/01/2008
State to compensate farmers for crops lost over Negev, Arava drought
By Amiram Cohen
The state is expected to compensate farmers in the South, the Negev and Arava regions, for crops that were lost due to this year's drought.
Arava farmers have been particularly hard hit as they have lost the winter vegetables that were to be marked for export.
The Be'er Sheva, Western Negev, Central Negev and Arava regions have seen less than half of their normal average rainfall so far this winter; in the Lachish region and around Beit Kama, there has been only a third of the usual amount of rainfall at this point in the winter. As a result, the reservoirs that collect runoff from the rains and provide much of the water used for agriculture have not filled up either.
Farmers in the Western Negev irrigate their fields with reclaimed waste water from the center of the country, but the amount available is limited and was further cut by 9% this year.
Arava settlements are not connected at all to the National Water Carrier and there is no way to supply them with significant quantities of water from the North in cases of drought.
The drought is also threatening crops remaining after the frost during the last two weeks, which destroyed hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of vegetables for export in the Arava, according to Ami Shaham, the head of the drainage administration for that region.