LOW RAINFALL WILL IMPACT CROP PRODUCTION, PRICE
By Sheria Brathwaite
Barbadians are being told to expect low yields of fruits and vegetables as the island grapples with drought-like conditions.
In fact, it is also predicted that the dry conditions will drive milk production down.
This was the account members of the farming community gave Barbados TODAY as they weighed in on the Barbados Meteorological Services’ (BMS) rainfall projections for the next few months.
According to a statement published over the weekend, Director of the Meteorological office Sabu Best said that the rain forecast for the coming weeks will be low with the only relief coming at the start of the Atlantic Hurricane Season in June.
In fact, the prediction is that for April the rainfall will be 48 per cent below average rainfall; May, 19 per cent below average rainfall and for June 11 per cent.
“[The] latest short-term climate forecast from the BMS for rain accumulation over the next few months, up until June, is expected to be below normal. Previous forecasts of an early start to rains in May are no longer expected based on the latest predictions,” he said.
Best said the dry spell could result in significant impacts to rain-fed crops particularly across the south of the island, large field fires were “highly possible” up until June and foliage for grazing livestock was expected to remain very poor across the south of the island and fair in higher elevations.
“Rain accumulations across the southern sections of the island have been extremely low. Parishes such as St Philip, Christ Church, St John, southern St George, most of St Michael as well as southern St James have been experiencing very dry top soils and short vegetation has been drying out over the past few weeks.
“These areas are where most of the grass fires have been sparking. In higher elevation areas, although there is a reduction in precipitation, vegetation remains fair. However, in all areas, rain accumulations have not yielded much for the aquifers over the past few months,” said Best.
When contacted, chief executive officer of the Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS) James Paul said that farmers who rely heavily on the rains will be affected the most and he encouraged them to engage water conservation methods.
“If we (farmers) can do ground covering, such as mulching, that can work. Also, there is the fabric covering people use on the ground and that helps to avoid rapid evaporation of water,” he said.
Paul said that in times of drought water-fed farms would be out of production, adding that it should not be a surprise to see low quantities of locally-produced vegetables and fruits.
“In rain-fed areas, farmers do not take part in vegetable crops at this time. They recognise there would not be enough water to give the crops a start, so after the dry period has passed farmers start to plant again and put more crops into production.
“You would not have a lot of production, if any at all, in the areas that rely on rainfall, so we will have lower quantities of six to eight-week crops, but it won’t be a true shortage. It will just be an effect of the climatic conditions.”
He added that the low quantities of some produce could result in them selling for more.
Some crops that can tolerate drought stress are sweet potato, cassava and yam, however, planting material for those crops still requires adequate levels of water to catch.
President of the Barbados Beef and Dairy Producers Association Annette Beckett said milk production will be down because farmers will not be able to access the amounts of hay their animals require.
However, based on the MET office’s forecast, she said she did not think the situation would be out of control.
“The impact would be the amount of water they take in and the forage they get, which would be non-existent, if the rain is not failing as the grass will not grow back at the speed you want it to grow back at once it’s cut. In other words, whatever the animals are accustomed to eating, they won’t be able to get and getting less forage means that it will impact on the production,” she said.
“But sometimes the impact is not a severe impact. Sometimes it means that if you are accustomed to getting let’s say 15 kilogrammes from a cow, you may only get ten or 12. However, the issue is that it will be at every farm and that is where the overall impact will be had. But if we get the rain in June, the grass will come back and the cows will get back to eating their usual quota; so milk production will not be severely affected because it’s a short period of drought.”
sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb
