Translation of "Sensible à la sécheresse " (French → English) :

Foster exchanges of information and best practices on drought risk management. Identify methodologies for drought thresholds and drought mapping. By the end of 2008, develop recommendations.

In the horticultural sector, the combination of a mild winter, very high spring temperatures, a dry April and late frosts led to considerable reductions in fruit yield and, in some cases, to total crop failures.

Compared to the 2003 drought, the geographic area affected by the yield reduction is greater mainly because in the northernmost regions, high temperatures affected the crops earlier and in their more sensitive stages of development.

The Central American countries covered by this decision Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Costa Rica - can be affected by drought, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, flooding and landslides.

The goals of this new programme are to modernise and improve the systems for monitoring and managing water resources, to carry out studies for forecasting drought, evaluating the effects of drought and structuring the preventive measures to be taken, to set up schemes that will restore hydrological and environmental balances, in particular by regulating the flow of water-courses, as well as schemes to supply water to farms in the most sensitive areas, and finally to support the application of techniques of irrigation and techniques to ...[+++] reduce water losses.

(5) Whereas the introduction of the aforementioned system of compensatory payments per hectare renders it appropriate to lay down a base area per producing Member State; whereas that determination should reflect the area cultivated during the last year of production available in statistical terms; whereas, however, in order to take account of drought, in the case of Spain and Portugal it is appropriate to take account of the last year available by region except for regions affected by drought, where the last year before the drought is taken into account; whereas as regards French Guiana it is appropriate to lay down the base area in accordance with the one which is the subject of the arrangements provided for in Article 3 (2) of Regulati ...[+++]on (EEC) No 3763/91 introducing specific measures in respect of certain agricultural products for the benefit of the French overseas departments (3); whereas such a determination makes it possible to maintain production objectives compatible with the requirements of the market and to comply with the undertakings accepted under the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations concerning trade exports; whereas compliance with the base area can be ensured, in the event of overshooting, by reducing the aid sufficiently to dissuade producers from exceeding the maximum;