Climate change has already started affecting farming cycles in the Caribbean.
As a result, local farmers are being encouraged to adapt their methods as experts warn that climate change pressures are expected to worsen.
The Marivista Institute for Agriculture, Training and Development (MIATD) hosted several farmers from the hills of Paramin in a seminar named “Climate Change and Paramin Agriculture” at the Maraval Community Centre last week. At the seminar, several grim revelations were made concerning the change in weather and its potential impact on the agriculture sector.
MIATD chairman, Marcus Mycoo, revealed that during a recent trip to Guyana, several crops of rice were lost after the country experienced an unprecedented drought. This, Mycoo noted, was particularly significant given the vast amount of water sources available to the South American country.
“We just came from Guyana and we saw rice, we went to see rice. The previous month, I was in Suriname and they didn’t have water in time to plant some of the fields. I want you to think about that,” the MIATD chairman told the farmers, “Guyana is the land of many waters. This is a unique thing. I was in shock to see land prepared and they did not get water in time to plant.”
This issue was also experienced in Trinidad and Tobago as Nigel Grimes, a technical advisor at the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries confirmed that last year several farmers did complain about water shortages.
“Some farmers that I have been interacting with over the last year, they have been expressing to me and sharing the challenges they have been having with respect to water,” said Grimes, who noted that while he was accustomed to Petit Careme, a short period bereft of rainfall in the rainy season, last year saw a particularly extended drought. “This year the Petit Careme wasn’t petite. It could be considered the Grande Careme because it lasted for a while.”
University of the West Indies Professor Michelle Mycoo, who is professor of Urban and Regional Planning in the Department of Geomatics Engineering and Land Management, explained that the effects of climate initially expected to come two decades from now had already begun to rear its head in the world.
“We need to take urgent action for climate change. In the past we have been seeing the changes in the climate, and it is not today we are seeing it,” said Mycoo, “We are already seeing that it is earlier, wetter wet seasons that will destroy your crops and cause lost of income due to flooding and of course how many have insurance to protect you from these types of events?”
She said these weather changes were particularly worrying for the agriculture sector as apart from water shortages or excess water, it also meant farmers could be at greater risk while attempting to develop their crops.
“It will also mean farmers will face very, very hot temperatures and they will not be able to work very long hours in the extreme heat. So productivity loss among workers in the sector will occur. So it is across the board; the crop suffering; you suffering; the country is going to suffer because then we can’t get food and the crops that we depend on for our survival will be affected,” Prof Mycoo explained.
She said extreme heat which could create additional complications.
“How do you cope with heat stress? You may have to consider coming out earlier in the morning, and doing some night work to reduce the effects of heat on you. We may sometimes look at how to reduce direct solar radiation on farmers by, in fact having this shift, bringing on extra workers so that the same people are not taking on extreme heat and of course reducing crop sizes,” said the Professor, “But most farmers would not want to reduce crop sizes because it would mean reduced income but again these things are things that are being talked about all over the world.”
She added that with weather cycles less predictable, it also made it difficult for farmers to plan and develop their strategies for planting as months typically associated with the rain were expected to be drier, while when rains did eventually come, it could potentially be destructive.
“On the one hand you have drought, and then when the rain comes it is going to be so excessive that you have flooding and crop loss. So you getting lash left, right and centre in Trinidad parlance,” said Prof Mycoo, who noted that while most islands around the world had been facing these challenges, the Caribbean seemed to be facing greater extremes.
“The Caribbean is facing more of that drought effect than the Pacific islands, something to do with where our geographic location is. Cuba and Jamaica are facing even more severe drought than we are,” said Mycoo.
In a document shared at the event, she listed several crops around the Caribbean which could be affected by inadequate water supplies at critical periods of crop development. They included cabbage, cauliflower, corn, cucumber, eggplant, ochro, peas, tomatoes and sweet potato.
She, however, did give some suggestions and strategies the farmers could adopt to combat some of the new challenges brought about by water shortages by introducing rainwater harvesting methods to augment the supply, which had recently been improved by new WASA pipelines installed in the area.
She encouraged the farmers to move away from traditional approaches in a bid to ensure that they remained resilient in the face of climate change challenges which she only expected to worsen.
“You have new technologies to adapt, embrace the technology. They are becoming available,” said Prof Mycoo, “We need to pivot, to shift our thinking away from the old way of doing things. Our immediate future rests upon our making our changes in reduction in climate, we at the local level adapting because what we are facing is going to be worse in the next decades.”
The event was the first of ten such seminars set to be held in various farming communities across Trinidad and Tobago.
MIATD is hosting the seminars in partnership with Republic Bank, which sent representatives who encouraged the farmers to embrace greater fiscal planning in the face of these issues.
Tricia Bissoon-Pollard, Republic’s manager, Centre for Business Innovation, urged farmers to improve their bookkeeping in the face of these challenges as it would be crucial in the planning going forward.
She also encouraged the farmers to invest in technology to preserve their livelihoods.