COPING WITH CLIMATE CHANGE (2):

CREATING MICRO AGRO ECOLOGY IN FARMS AND COMMUNITIES

“Climate change will have major impacts on the availability of water for growing food and on crop productivity in the decades to come”, warns a new FAO report. This means that the next battle ground in agriculture will no longer be for land but for water resources.

 

That report also stated that “an acceleration of the world's hydrological cycle is anticipated as rising temperatures increase the rate of evaporation from land and sea. Rainfall will increase in the tropics and higher latitudes, but decrease in already dry semi-arid to mid-arid latitudes and in the interior of large continents. A greater frequency in droughts and floods will need to be planned for but already, water scarce areas of the world are expected to become drier and hotter. 
Even though estimates of groundwater recharge under climate change cannot be made with any certainty, the increasing frequency of drought can be expected to encourage further development of available groundwater to buffer the production risk for farmers. And the loss of glaciers - which support around 40 percent of the world's irrigation -- will eventually impact the amount of surface water available for agriculture in key producing basins”.

“Increased temperatures will lengthen the growing season in northern temperate zones but will reduce the length almost everywhere else. Coupled with increased rates of evapotranspiration this will cause the yield potential and water productivity of crops to decline.
"Both the livelihoods of rural communities as well as the food security of city populations are at risk," said FAO Assistant Director General for Natural Resources, Alexander Mueller. "But the rural poor, who are the most vulnerable, are likely to be disproportionately affected."

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An acceleration of the world's hydrological cycle is anticipated as rising temperatures increase the rate of evaporation from land and sea. Rainfall will increase in the tropics and higher latitudes, but decrease in already dry semi-arid to mid-arid latitudes and in the interior of large continents. A greater frequency in droughts and floods will need to be planned for but already, water scarce areas of the world are expected to become drier and hotter. 
Even though estimates of groundwater recharge under climate change cannot be made with any certainty, the increasing frequency of drought can be expected to encourage further development of available groundwater to buffer the production risk for farmers. And the loss of glaciers - which support around 40 percent of the world's irrigation -- will eventually impact the amount of surface water available for agriculture in key producing basins”.

Urbanization and rapid population increase has likewise taxed the limits of water availability. In many areas in the country where cities have become bigger, the problem of water extraction has even become magnified. Salt water had intruded into the aquifers left empty by too much extraction. Freshwater due to its scarcity can no longer replenish these underground storage systems, creating a permanent loss to humanity.

The Food and Agriculture Organization in another report urged governments to become proactive in helping combat climate change by implementing multilevel programs, ranging from pollution control to carbon sequestration. For his part, President Pnoy pronounced the ten million trees program last year ad there seems to be no more follow up nor a report to the nation as to the status of its implementation. The 10 million trees broken down into 70 or so provinces would mean just about 150,000 trees more or less per province. But Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor went much further and targeted 1,000,000 trees per year up to the end of his term, meaning 3,000,000 trees over a three year period. To implement this, he had instructed his personnel to break down the target into achievable components like distributing nurseries through out the province and based them in strategic locations in each district. The tree species were also broken down into acceptable terms by the communities like industrial trees and fruit or multipurpose trees so that the mix will enable the communities to earn while becoming stewards of certain species that should not be cut down. These trees which should be maintained and preserved are those which are found to be better absorbers of rains and run offs as they are deep rooted and can survive the harsh environments to grow tall and become future watersheds. Multipurpose trees and other species like fruits (e.g. jack fruit or langka) and bamboo are taken cared of by the communities because they can periodically and regularly benefit from them.

Aside from replanting trees and reestablishing the forest cover in the uplands, Governor Defensor is going further to redevelop the coastal mangrove forests in the coastal areas of the province starting at the Municipality of Leganes in April 2012. The objective is to reestablish the mangrove forests to serve many purposes like buffer zones for large waves and potential tsunamis, breeding ground for marine life and as first line of defense against massive sea water intrusion. Once fully planted in key locations all over the coastal areas of the province of Iloilo, Defensor hopes that specific and unique coastal ecosystems will reemerge and stabilize and thus benefits the communities in these areas.

In the process of establishing a tree cover in certain areas like denuded forests and farm that had been planted intensively with single crops, a micro climate is also created. A micro climate is best described by the free on line dictionary as “the climate of a small, specific place within an area as contrasted with the climate of the entire area”. Explained further, it is the general climate of say, a farm or community that is distinct compared to the climate of a larger area. Take the case of the barangays of Moroboro, Lincud, Caguyuman and tulatulaan in Dingle, Iloilo. These barangays surround the Bulabog-Putian Mountain range which is also a protected area under the parks and wildlife bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Massive campaigns to plant trees in the past three decades had rebuilt the tree cover of the area that upon entering the area from other parts of the province, a marked difference in ambient temperature is immediately noticed. While the communities can no longer plant short term crops intensively, they are now reaping prosperously from the products of the forests like coffee and shade loving crops. The furniture industry where they turn out furnitures and other finished wood products is also alive and earns more for the communities than from just mere raw lumber, charcoal and firewood.

Even a small area like 6,000 square meters can become a vastly different micro ecology compared to its neighborhood. This is the case of the Provincial Nursery at La Granja, La Paz District in Iloilo City. For more than a decade starting with the first term of Governor Arthur Defensor, the Provincial Nursery was planted with mother trees of key species as a source of seeds and seedlings for province wide agro-reforestation efforts. Now the giant bamboo species called “afus” by Southern Mindanaoans are towering over the other vegetation with several langka trees as middle level canopy and bananas taking up the lower areas. Nursery men are now using the ground level as potting and seedling area. As one enters the Provincial Nursery, a distinct coolness is felt because of the dense foliage and the canopy which effectively blocks the intense heat of the sun. While one sees the dryness of the whole La Granja community upon entering, the nursery area is fairly wet not because of the water system available but mainly due to the shade provided by the trees and the thick matting of fallen leaves which effectively prevents the heat from drying up the soil.

For farmers to sustain yield and productivity therefor, it is essential that they find reliable sources of water in their farms. While irrigation systems provide relief, their investment cost is high. It is vital for farmers to find their own water resources and one approach is to create their own stable agro-ecology right in their farms and attempt to control or manage their own micro climates. Such agro ecology involves the right mix of trees, crops and livestock that will stabilize the ecology of the area where there is interaction among the various components. Components that should be included in a stable agro-ecosystem include trees, short term crops, livestock and even cultured micro-organisms. Trees providing shade, leaves (for fertilizers and other uses), fruits for food and income, etc. Cash crops are the sources of short term income while livestock and poultry provide food, income and manure which is essential to sustaining high yields of the crops and trees.