Farmers Struggle as Crops Dry Up in Caribbean & Central America

Historic drought in the Caribbean is causing huge losses for farmers as the region suffers the driest conditions in more than five years. Rice farmers in the Dominican Republic's north west province of Monti Cristi expect they could lose as much as 80 percent of their harvests this season their rice crops, grown by maintaining flooded fields, are hard hit by dry weather. "We want to tell the president to come to the aid of Monte Cristi, especially rice farmers,” said Quilvo Diaz, president of an irrigation board in the province, according to local newspaper Diario Libre. “Here, in one way or another, all households depend on agriculture.” Rice is a key source of livelihood for hundreds of families in Monte Cristi alone. But parched reservoirs and lack of rain has left irrigation systems thirsty, creating a difficult situation for farmers, who have called on the government to help avoid crop loss. According to farmers, the situation could provoke an “extraordinary famine” in the region.

In Jamaica, the ministry of agriculture has already handed over 30 tanks of water to agricultural producers southwest of Kingston to help ward of the damaging impacts of months of drought. (...) In the face of climate change, such government support and new policies addressing water, food security, and food sovereignty will only become more important as adverse weather conditions become more common, Villalona explained. Meteorologists have predicted a strong El Niño effect will disrupt regular climate patterns this year, as the climatic phenomenon originating in the Pacific Ocean triggers floods, droughts, and other extreme conditions around the world.

http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Farmers-Struggle-Crops-Dry-Up-in-Caribbean-and-Central-America-20150714-0013.html