Attention farmers
Sound agricultural practices key to navigating dry times
Published:Thursday | June 15, 2023 | 12:58 AM
WITH THE onset of an El Niño event, local farmers are being encouraged to give attention to agricultural practices that can help them through dry times.
“Strong considerations should be given to things like crop diversity, including drought-tolerant varieties, water harvesting/management, improved irrigation efficiency, sustainable soil/land management,” said Dr Adrian Spence, senior research scientist at the International Centre for Environmental and Nuclear Sciences.
El Niño events have traditionally forced drier conditions in the Caribbean with the two most severe droughts to impact the region (2009-2010 and 2014-2016) having occurred during El Niño events.
“Where possible, farmers should try to access crop insurance or be covered by some form of catastrophe fund. Also, given the effects of climate change on the agricultural sector, climate-smart agricultural practices must be quickly embraced across the sector. It would also be useful if these and other context-specific practices are bolstered by appropriate early warning systems,” Spence advised.
An environmental biochemist and climate change mitigation specialist, he was one of the authors of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Special Report on Climate Change and Land.
Spence is also championing public education on likely bushfires related to El Niño.
“El Niño events are characteristic of high temperatures and exaggerated periods of droughts, which are enabling conditions for bushfires. Therefore, I believe that we need to be on high alert for these eventualities. In this regard, it may be useful for the relevant authorities to carry out public sensitisation and raise local awareness about fire prevention strategies, to include land management,” he said.
There is also room, Spence said, for “water use efficiency and storage when available” which “becomes even more important as drought conditions worsen and water restrictions tighten”.
“Heat management strategies will also be an important component of our preparedness, especially for the most vulnerable (children and the elderly) within the society,” he said.
His comments come as other local scientists – among them respected physicist, Prof Michael Taylor – continue to urge careful attention to planning and management in an unusually and very dry time in the region, given the onset of the El Niño event.
“We know that an El Niño affects our climate. It biases us to be dry, especially in the late rainy season (August to November). If that plays out, having already had water deficiency up to this point in the year, we could be in a lot of trouble,” cautioned Taylor, a physicist and dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology at The University of the West Indies, Mona.
“We should prepare for the scenario of a dry year. The very warm Caribbean Sea will also make it hot. Imagine being very hot and not having enough water. We need to be prepared,” he added, speaking with The Gleaner on the issue last month.