The current economic situation of the banana producers, which is due to falling prices, a lack of quotas, and delays in payments, won’t allow them to have sufficient liquidity to defend themselves from the El Niño phenomenon, said Magno Sanchez, general manager of the Banana section of the Ecuaquímica Company.
This lack of funds will prevent producers from reinforcing walls, strengthening pumping or scooping stations in plantations. We should be prepared, even though the magnitude of the phenomenon is still unknown, he said Sánchez.
The technician recalled that, despite not having El Niño, in 2012 there had been a coastal flooding with higher levels than the floods of 1997 or 1998. "We're talking about 30 cm higher than the floods of 1997 and 1998, and that's a lot. Fortunately, back then the producers that had resources were able to work, but that's a fairly small percentage," he said.
According to Sanchez, there are many plantations affected by the sigatoka and if the rains start in late October or November, producers won’t be able to clean their plantations and they will get into problems that they won’t be able to solve during winter. Thus, the production volume of boxes or clusters throughout the high season will be smaller than in other years, he added.
"There can be a 20% impact on production, or more, so the picture is complicated for the banana industry. The sector has to take some measures to strengthen the plants’ nutrition. It has to begin implementing a nutrition program that will strengthen the root system of the plantation now," he said.
The specialist recommended banana producers to work on drainage, cleaning out channels starting from the gutters. It is important to remove the excess waters, make a strict program against the sigatoka, reduce the current frequency average to12 days and 14 days now, before it rains, he said. Then, when it starts to rain, reduce it to seven days, not forgetting the issue of nutrition, he added.
Source: elproductor.com