MEXICO CITY(Commodity Online) : Severe drought and disturbing weather due to El Nino weather phenomenan hit Mexico’s 3.5 million small farmers from the countryside.

In addition to bringing less rain in the summer, the warm Pacific waters associated with El Nino cause hurricanes to form far out at sea and stay away from Mexico's coasts.



The situation so severe that many Mexican’s said even hurricanes would be welcome.

From the beginning of the hurricane season to date, seven storms have formed in the Pacific and three in the Atlantic. But none has come near enough to Mexico's coasts to dump a significant amount of rainfall and thus alleviate the drought.

Mexico's National Meteorological Institute expects nine more storms in the Pacific and seven in the Atlantic before hurricane season ends.

El Nino, which is blamed in part for many of the country's 800 large reservoirs being at dangerously low levels, the death of more than 50,000 head of cattle and the potential loss of 17 million acres of crops.

El Nino, the periodic warming of central and eastern tropical Pacific waters, causes natural disasters in several countries, including intense rainfall in some regions and severe drought in others.

The National Peasant Farmers Confederation says Mexico is suffering its worst drought in the past 70 years and that the lack of rainfall could result in the loss of 7 million hectares of cultivated land and affect 3.5 million peasants.

Also at risk are more than 20 million tons of basic grains, such as corn and beans.

Agriculture Secretary Alberto Cardenas warned this week of the potential for reduced yields of many crops and said the government will earmark some 900 million pesos ($69 million) to cover insurance payouts for 6.6 million hectares and 4.1 million animals belonging to 3.4 million small producers.

While noting that, through July, farmers have produced 112 million of the 201 million tons of food slated to be grown by year's end, he acknowledged that many irrigated crops must still be planted in the latter part of the year and could be affected by the drought.

The government plans to combat the drought with different measures, including shifting production to less-water-intensive crops, implementing practices to conserve humidity and planting fodder for cattle.

Post your comment  (0)

Connect:

Post to Twitter

Post to Facebook