It takes a gallon of water to produce a single almond—more than three times the amount required for a grape and two and a half times as much for a strawberry. Theres more water embedded in just four almonds than there is in a full head of lettuce. But unlike row crops, which farmers can choose not to plant during dry spells, almond trees must be watered no matter what...In the midst of the worst drought in Californias history, you might expect almonds extreme thirst to be a deal breaker. But its not. In fact, the drought has had hardly any impact at all on the almond boom. The states farmers bought at least 8.33 million young almond trees between July 2013 and July 2014, a 25 percent increase from the previous year. About a quarter of the saplings went to replace old orchards, but most of the rest were new plantings, some 48,000 acres worth, an area equal to three Manhattans.
Posted on: Sat, 17 Jan 2015 17:01:17 +0000
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