Rafael Tufiño's Plenas Portfolio (1954) includes the traditional and well-known Puerto Rican music Temporal. In Tony Croatto's version, one of his lines goes like this: “The green stings the eyes, the gain is lost…”. As Tropical Storm Ernesto, now a hurricane, left a trail of wind and rain as it passed through eastern Puerto Rico, it was a feeling many of us felt when we saw images of farmers producing on the ground.
“Witnessing years of field work touches all your senses. Also, money-wise, there's a lot of money invested. Even when my hunger goes away, it's a struggle,” from Villar, south of the large island of Puerto Rico Marisita López-Cortez, a farmer in the small town of Basin, told me. These words echoed the sentiments of the local people, whose eyes were stung by the green when they saw the crops on the ground. Most of this greenery comes from bananas and banana crops.
Landslide after heavy rain
Average ocean temperatures on Ernesto's trip to Puerto Rico were 0.8°C above normal, according to the nonprofit Climate Center, which is 80 to 100 times more likely to rise due to climate change. We know that higher temperatures produce stronger storms.
Despite the destruction, images show that these crops let Puerto Ricans know that we can make ends meet. It cannot be minimized. The last census highlighted an increase in production of both. Although there are no official damage figures, damage is estimated to be in the millions. Reports, photos and reports from cities ranging from Santa Isabel in the south to Monabo in the east to Barranquitas in the mountains and beyond showed farms becoming overcrowded by the fifth storm of the season. “Half the bananas were lost. Eight inches! We couldn't enter the farm because the landslides were raging,” López-Cortez told me.
The mountains of Puerto Rico recorded about 10 inches (25.4 centimeters) of rain and wind gusts of up to 86 mph (138 kph), according to the National Weather Service. López-Cortez cultivated his crops: bananas, coffee and other trees. This helps protect most of the crops and coffee trees they produce from the wind. But, as she said, despite the high winds, landslides were still prevalent. Dr. K. Stephen Hughes, director of the Puerto Rico Landslide Mitigation Office at the University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez, commented that he estimated that approximately one hundred landslides had occurred.
A large portion of Puerto Rico is prone to landslides, and most agricultural production occurs in these areas. “Almost all [deslizamientos] What I see is a failure of shallow soils and shallow regolith. Shallow doesn't mean they are less important. They continue to block roads and cut off different communities,” Hughes commented via email. It should be noted that the vulnerability to landslides is a stressor for people in the region, especially for farmers who see their land affected by landslides.
Recovery will be arduous. In a video she uploaded to her Facebook page, farmer Stephanie Rodríguez spoke about the incident with a farmer in Ciales, who was talking to her about the total loss of her property. They stressed that extreme events such as droughts and heavy rains continue to increase.
This complicates farm planning. For many, part of the plan includes crop insurance through the Puerto Rico Department of Agriculture Agricultural Insurance Company. However, these policies only cover bananas and other crops when the event is classified as a hurricane. That is, it does not include storms. “We are asking farmers to submit damage reports… as we are designing a program to compensate them.” [por las pérdidas]”Secretary of State González Beiró said in an interview with Telemundo on August 15.
One option for agriculture is the Disaster Assistance Program for Uninsured Crops, which is administered by the federal Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency. in addition to other state and federal options. Lopez-Cortez commented that he has contacted service providers to process applications for these programs. However, it should be noted that many people do not have the technical or managerial resources to participate in these programs.
After Hurricane Maria, we noticed that bureaucracy and slow rebuilding of local infrastructure hindered effective farm recovery. However, various grassroots groups and organizations, including government agencies themselves, have developed plans to help people apply for these programs.
What will agriculture and fisheries safeguarding plans look like based on the climate realities we are experiencing? How helpful would it be to have services and programs available for risk planning and mitigation in those sectors that are so important to our food security? Let us remember that not everything should fall into the hands of local agriculture.
Ernesto was the first hurricane of the peak hurricane season. It’s worth singing another line from the plenary that opened this column: “What will Puerto Rico look like when the storm comes?” Meanwhile, as the farmers told Rodriguez: “We will keep planting.” I know Marys López Cortez and thousands of others from across our island in the Puerto Rican agricultural sector support and make this statement a reality. We must support them.
Dr. Luis Alexis Rodriguez Cruz is a social scientist and writer from Juana Díaz, Puerto Rico. He writes about agri-food systems, science, and public policy. Every Sunday he publishes his newsletter La Fiambrera.
