Central America needs to take advantage of all available technologies and establish plans that allow for adaptation and resilience to reduce the effects of the climate crisis and not jeopardize food production, experts warned this Friday at a forum in Honduras.
Prolonged droughts and more intense rains are some of the effects of the climate crisis in Central America, a region that urgently needs solutions to curb this phenomenon, which is advancing with increasing speed and intensity, said Alejandro Hernández, researcher and director of Biotechnology at CropLife Latin America in Costa Rica.
Hernández indicated that if countries manage to “improve the agricultural ecosystem,” they will be able to achieve “more resilient crops, that is, crops that better tolerate drought or flooding.”
In his opinion, new technologies are achieving that resilience in a shorter time, allowing farmers to access “seeds and crops that can better withstand” the effects of climate change.
Large waves of migration
The dry corridor of Central America faces “long periods of drought or excess water,” which greatly affects “agricultural production,” emphasized the Costa Rican expert.
According to official estimates, in the Central American region, up to 20% of agricultural productivity is lost due to drought or flooding, which, according to Hernández, causes “large waves of migration.”
To adapt to climate change, farmers must begin to use technology in an integrated manner and develop agricultural strategies such as renewing crops, incorporating organic matter, and improving the soil, he added.
He also recalled that the agriculture ministers of the G20 countries committed the previous week to ensuring global food security by adopting sustainable agricultural production practices in their countries.
The expert stated that “there is no one way to do things,” so countries must seek the most suitable approach, integrating the different elements of agriculture (conventional, organic, biological, and technological) to address the impact of the climate crisis and “avoid falling into food security issues.”
It is also necessary to develop technologies that contribute to solving the problems of food security and the climate crisis facing the region, with the aim of producing “more with less” water resources and cultivating plants that are more resilient to adverse climatic conditions.
More awareness and resistant varieties
The president of the College of Professionals in Agricultural Sciences of Honduras, Luis Berrios, said that humanity “lacks awareness” of the effects of climate change and must take care of natural resources.
“We need to focus on climate change; otherwise, with each passing day, the world will continue to face more and more problems affecting the lives of humans, plants, and animals,” he emphasized.
Berrios indicated that it is necessary to create solutions, such as adding more varieties of seeds, to “produce food in greater quantity and better quality” that humanity requires.
“We need to start exploring the alternatives, such as the varieties of corn, beans, and other crops, in which climates they can thrive, how much water they require, and whether we actually have the necessary conditions to produce, because if we don’t have adequate infrastructure, we won’t be able to produce,” he explained.
Berrios insisted that the region must invest in “resistant varieties” to cope with the effects of the climate crisis, and urged the population to be “aware” of the importance of protecting plants, water, and soil.
The main challenge, according to the Honduran expert, is to produce food with seeds that are “more resistant” to drought and pests, of good quality and at low cost, as well as to improve the conditions of producers in the countries of the region.