Agro suffers first disorders by El Niño

MAG asked some farmers not to grow and move livestock

Deficit rainfall in North Pacific in June was 65%, according to the IMN

July 14th, 2014

The request to suspend some crops and livestock to move to new areas, are the first effects of the El Niño phenomenon in agriculture.

These suggestions were made by experts from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) to producers in different parts of the country, particularly in the North Pacific (Guanacaste).

Felipe Arguedas, national director of Agricultural Extension MAG said that suggestions are made for employers not lose animals or crops.

The situation arises because in the North Pacific, for example, the rainfall deficit relative to the historical average was 65% in June and 30% in May.

Meanwhile, the accumulated rainfall from January to May (June data has not yet been added) indicates that in this region fell 39% below the historical average.

The decline in the volume of rainfall extends to the Central Valley in June where it rained 10% less compared to the historical average, according to the head of forecasts (IMN), Werner Stoltz National Meteorological Institute.

Meanwhile, in the northern Caribbean, the situation is reversed, during June rained 47% more than the historical average.

Stoltz explained that these figures are communicated to members of a national commission on El Niño, composed by entities such as the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), the National Institute of Aqueducts and Sewers (AyA) and the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad ( ICE), among others.

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