米カリフォルニア州のアーモンド農園、干ばつと給水制限で収穫前に根こそぎ廃棄

【ヒューロンＡＦＰ＝時事】米カリフォルニア州の農園で、壊滅的な干ばつと新たな給水制限に打ちひしがれながら、ダニエル・ハートウィグさんは香り高い貴重なアーモンドの木、数千本を引き抜いていった。それしかできることはなかった。（写真は米カリフォルニア州ヒューロンの農園で、水不足のため引き抜かれたアーモンドの木）
　「胸が張り裂けそうだ」。かつては見事なアーモンド畑だった景色を前に、ハートウィグさんは嘆いた。丸まった枯れ葉の下でしなびた実は、水さえあれば今年の収穫となるはずだったものだ。
　午前中から気温が４０度近くまで上がる今夏の猛暑の中、放置された木の根はすでに腐って粉を吹いたようになっている。その間を重機が動き回って、ハートウィグさんの「美しい最高のアーモンドの木」だったものを木くずの山に変えていく。
　ハートウィグさんは、小さな町ヒューロンの近くに広がるウルフ農園で水管理の責任者を務めている。広さ２万エーカー（約８０００ヘクタール）を超えるこの農場で、まだ寿命を迎えていないアーモンドの木をこれほどたくさん引き抜かなければならなかったのは、今回が初めてだ。
　カリフォルニア州では近年、降水量が非常に少なく、とりわけ冬の乾燥が厳しい年が続いた。このため、州当局は農業生産者への水供給を制限している。
　世界で消費されるアーモンドの８０％がカリフォルニア州で生産される。アーモンドミルクなど、動物性食品の代替となる製品の需要が高まり、アーモンドの市場規模は１５年間で倍増した。
　「農家が水を浪費しているという見方がある」と語ったハートウィグさん。ジーンズのポケットに手を突っ込み、「私たちはまるで悪者扱いだ」とこぼした。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/08/31-11:01）

Crushed by a devastating drought and new water restrictions, Daniel Hartwig had no choice but to pull thousands of precious, fragrant almond trees from his California farm.
It breaks your heart, he sighed as he surveyed the once vibrant landscape before him -- curled, yellowed leaves covering the shrunken husks that would have been this year's crop of almonds, had the water arrived.
Their exposed roots are already starting to turn powdery with rot, and the temperature of almost 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) on this summer morning speeds their decomposition.
Moving among them are huge machines that will turn Hartwig's beautiful prime almond trees into large piles of woodchips.
- 'Brutal Shock' -
It's a sudden brutal shock, the farmer said.
Hartwig is in charge of water management for the mega-property of Woolf Farms, an estate of over 20,000 acres (8,000 hectares) around the small market town of Huron.
This is the first time that the farm has had to uproot so many trees before they reach the end of their life.
From drip irrigation systems to cutting-edge sensors installed throughout the property, everything has been designed to optimize the use of water.
But almond trees are very thirsty, and this is a valley that is sorely lacking in water.
After several years of very low rainfall and a particularly dry winter, California authorities turned off the tap to agricultural producers. In April, after a series of calculations, the farm had to face the hard facts.
There is not enough water on the market to keep the almond trees alive, Hartwig said. It's surely painful to make those changes.
And for good reason: The California almond market is worth nearly $6 billion a year.
- 'Bad Guys' -
California produces 80 percent of the almonds consumed worldwide, a market that has doubled in 15 years driven by demand for substitutes for animal products, such as almond milk.
Woolf Farms almonds travel as far as India or Australia. But is that era now over?
There is a perception that farmers are here to waste water, said Hartwig, his hands tucked into his jean pockets. It makes us sound like we are the bad guys.
To irrigate the crops they have managed to preserve, Woolf Farms pumps water found deep underground.
I'm very proud that we can feed the world from here, he said.
If we don't have the tools to be able to do that, where is that food going to come from? he asked.
Driving through the estate, which stretches as far as the eye can see, Hartwig pointed to a series of fallow fields.
Almost all of this would've been farm, he said. Now it's just a patchwork of crops.
He sighed. We've done as much as we can.