Climate Information Use in Agricultural Industry
The data is also used in the agricultural industry, which has been impacted by the changing weather patterns – the long drought and, in that same vein, extensive rainfall experienced over the past few years. It can also help with determining where a pest will reproduce, multiply and cause damage. So in that way a proper control strategy can be developed and the situation managed. The Sugar Industry Research and Development Institute has done extensive research on how climate change has been affecting the sugar industry in the north.
Dr. Luciano Chi, Resource Coordinator, SIRDI
“We have seen reduction in the production of cane and it was specifically due to one of the main factors that we are discussing this morning. In terms of weather information that we use to make our decision in northern Belize and also that information we use whenever we are implementing our research activities at the field level, we use the data that is available that can assist us in doing our research and activities in the field in the best way so we can obtain our results and see how it is impacting the activity that we are performing. Plays a role in evaluating new things. There is a stage four variety where we evaluate those varieties at field level and the results that we obtain is for us to select varieties that can be used in the sugar industry. However, in terms of the variety, one of the importance that this activity has on the sugar industry is that we know that the vast majority of the variety that we presently have here in northern Belize, most of them were selected more than thirty years ago and back then, it was under different climatic condition. And based on the graph that we have seen, there is a change in the climate pattern that we have observed. So it is important for us to continue evaluating new varieties every year so that we can actually adjust to the varieties under present climatic conditions and different areas where we can provide varieties that are climate resilient.”
