Drought conditions persist
throughout the South West and it appears to be part of a decadal cycle we
understand poorly. It is the one reason I
would like to see emergence of my previously described Eden machine.
This is any device designed along minimalist lines that directly harvest
water from the atmosphere and supply it directly to a drought resistant tree.
It sounds pretty simple, but many
crop lands once were well timbered. This
should be restored in some manner or the other. My favorite protocol comes from
Africa in which the acacia tree is active
during the off season while providing shade and fertilizer. Something like this surely exists in Mexico and the
South West.
The secret to all this is that a
tree receives and re-expels a lot of water permitting an active hydraulic cycle
supplying the rest of the ecosystem. The
Amazon would be largely a desert except for the trees themselves (I am over
stating the case to make the point that the trees reload the atmosphere).
All dry lands need intensive tree
management in order to optimize moisture availability as a matter of course,
but few recognize that or pay much attention to it.
A drought coming to Mexico
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
By Kent Paterson
Considered by the National Water Commission to be Mexico ’s worst drought in 70 years,
the dry spell is causing serious problems in the agricultural and ranching
economy as well as threatening the viability of rural communities.
The National Campesino Confederation (CNC) estimates the drought
has already claimed the lives of 450,000 cattle and threatened 12 million more
animals in northern Mexican states.
Reports suggest that water shortages will leave between 400-500,000
acres of corn unplanted during the fall-winter production cycle in Sinaloa , Mexico ’s
major corn-producing state and the source of about one-fourth of the national
production of the crop used to make the emblematic tortilla.
“In the coming months the grain problem will be notable because reservoirs are at one-fourth of their capacity,” said Mexican Senator Francisco Labastida (PRI-Sinaloa).
Weather forecasters also tie the drought to expected hard freezes,
which devastated the bulk of the Sinaloa corn crop last winter.
Border walls notwithstanding, the US- Mexico borderlands share a common climate
and environment, and the SMN’s predictions have special relevance to
the US
side as well.
Adrian Vazquez Galvez, general coordinator for the SMN,
cautioned that the combination of scant precipitation and cold weather could
trigger a host of economic, environmental and health effects. The winter
weather, Vazquez warned, could result in more respiratory, flu and asthma
problems, particularly in bigger cities, as well as create favorable conditions
for a new round of forest blazes in 2012.
“We have to be ready for the issue of forest fires next year, since
there will be combustible material in Coahuila ,
Chihuahua , Durango and Zacatecas,” Vazquez said.
In Chihuahua ,
state government officials warn that as many as 250,000 people-mainly
indigenous residents of the Sierra Tarahumara-could be in danger of
hunger and starvation because of the failure of small corn plots tilled for
self-consumption. On Saturday, November 19, the Chihuahua state government began
distributing emergency food packets in the impacted communities, which
officials expect will be repaid by community sweat equity in rebuilding roads,
clearing fields and repairing schools.
State authorities estimate that about 30 percent of Chihuahua ’s population, or roughly one
million people, still depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. Governor
Cesar Duarte said that unless the drought-related crisis was solved, more
people would migrate to cities in search of charity.
In Mexico ,
debate is simmering over the impacts, real or predicted, of the drought and
other climate disasters on the country’s ability to feed itself for an affordable
price. Some producers blame the drought for 50 percent price increases in the
staple corn and bean crops since late last year. As Mexico heads into the 2012 election
season, the issue will inevitably become a political one.
Simultaneously, the climate crisis is sowing the seeds for new
showdowns over the introduction of genetically-modified crops that are supposed
to be more drought-resistant and better yielding. Environmental groups such as
Greenpeace and many advocates of sustainable agriculture oppose
the transgenic crops on various environmental and health grounds,
including the threat posed by genetic contamination of native crops like corn.
Felipe Torres, a researcher with the National Autonomous University’s
Economic Research Institute, recently said that production of basic grains
could plummet between 30-40 percent because of the pre-existing lack of
productive investment aggravated by climate disasters.
In a similar vein, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations predicted earlier this month that Mexican production of basic grains could be 8.5 percent less in 2011 than last year’s total.
The Calderon administration is challenging doom-and-gloom forecasts.
The Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Social Development and Fisheries
(SAGARPA) claimed this month that Mexico will produce 20 million tons
of white corn in 2011, a harvest far greater than the 11 million tons needed
for internal consumption. SAGARPA and other federal agencies are
promoting various measures to resist the drought and its impacts, including
enhanced corn production in wetter states; more efficient irrigation
techniques; improved field conditions; insured crops; and greater yielding
seeds.
However, skeptics question whether government policies will get to the
root of the problem. IvanRestrepo, a seasoned newspaper columnist and prominent
environmentalist, was skeptical of government assurances that production will
improve and prices hold.
“In summation, it is the modern miracle of multiplying loaves in times
of drought,” Restrepo wrote of the Calderon administration’s public
posture.
Kent Paterson edits Frontera Norte/Sur, a news service of New Mexico State University .
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