[September Thematic Report] Crops affected by extreme weather in San José de Queroby Anghy Aquino | 12-09-2022 11:13 |
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 No rains, no crops. It's a famous saying among the farmers of San José de Quero, who rely on rains to irrigate their pasture and food crops. San José de Quero is a small town located in the Junín region of Peru, with farming as its main economic activity. It's the place where I was born and lived part of my childhood. Every year my family travels to San José de Quero to sow pasture, potatoes, and beans during the rainy season, which is generally from November to March. Like my family, all the villagers in my town sow during this time to take advantage of the rains.
Me as a child in San José de Quero
My aunt on her land in San José de Quero
Unfortunately, in recent years, climate change has been affecting farmers and ranchers in my hometown, including my family, as it has triggered extreme weather conditions and generated frosts and droughts in seasons that were supposed to be rainy. All of this has caused many of the crops to fail or grow poorly. Take, for instance, the case of my family. We planted potatoes and beans last November, but unfortunately we were not able to harvest anything this year, as our crops did not grow sufficiently. Fortunately, we only use our crops for our own consumption and do not depend on them as a source of income. Those who were severely affected were our neighbors, as they sell part of their food crops and use the pastures they grow to feed their cows whose milk they sell.  According to research developed in New Zealand, milk production increases when pasture growth rises and decreases when it also does. This study demonstrates the importance of pastures to improve milk production.  Shadbolt, N., Apparaob, D. 2016. Factors Influencing the Dairy Trade from New Zealand. Retrieved September 12, 2022, from https://www.ifama.org/resources/Documents/v19ib/14_Shadbolt.pdf  My uncle in San José de Quero many years ago Extreme weather has caused pastures to fail to grow and milk production in the district to decrease dramatically. As a result, the source of income for San José de Quero's cattle ranchers has been severely affected.
My aunt's cows in San José de Quero The sole dependence on rainfall for crop irrigation and the lack of adaptation to climate change in the district of San José de Quero has generated large losses that will continue to increase in the coming years if the district authorities and residents do not take precautionary and adaptation measures to droughts and frosts. Possible solutions include the implementation of innovative irrigation systems that promote sustainable irrigation, watershed management, and the technification of agriculture (e.g., the use of farming drones to study the agricultural terrain, control pests, calculate the exact volume of water needed by crops, etc.). These solutions will optimize agriculture and improve livestock production since pasture will be available at any time of the year. Cows will have better feed and produce higher amounts of high-quality milk. However, the implementation of these measures is not cheap, and the villagers will not be able to afford the costs involved. This is why the help of authorities, private or public companies, NGOs, national or foreign organizations is required. It is not fair that people in developing countries, who contribute very little to the production of greenhouse gases, are the most affected by climate change, and developed countries, responsible for the largest amount of CO2 production, do not take responsibility for their emissions and do not help developing countries adapt to climate change, a global problem that they are accelerating. Reference materials: Almeida, J. (2020, September 29). Cinco Medidas de Adaptación para reducir la vulnerabilidad Al Cambio Climático del sector agrícola en América Latina y el caribe. Sostenibilidad. Retrieved September 12, 2022, from https://blogs.iadb.org/sostenibilidad/es/cinco-medidas-de-adaptacion-para-reducir-la-vulnerabilidad-al-cambio-climatico-del-sector-agricola-en-america-latina-y-el-caribe/ Sustainable development goals (sdgs): What should the future look like? ClimateScience. (n.d.). Retrieved September 12, 2022, from https://climatescience.org/advanced-sustainable-development-goals |
