Environment & Energy

Judi Lynn

(160,542 posts) Tue Jan 3, 2017, 07:05 PM Jan 2017

Severe Bolivian drought hurts crops, threatens capital Carlos Valdez, Associated Press Updated 3:06

Carlos Valdez, Associated Press

Updated 3:06 pm, Tuesday, January 3, 2017

CARACOLLO, Bolivia (AP) — Last year, the flowering quinoa plants painted Florencio Tola's farmlands in vibrant sepia and ochre tones.

But this season, all that could be seen was the straw color of dried-out stalks that never germinated amid Bolivia's worst drought in 30 years. Nearby a collection of scrawny cows, with their ribs protruding and flaccid udders, grazed on what little vegetation could be found on the sere ground.

"It's as if I had never sown anything," said Tola, 60, who like thousands of other farmers planted his quinoa in October ahead of the rainy season that usually runs through March.

He and thousands of other farmers in the Bolivian high plains believe they have been hit by a particularly strong weather phenomenon known as El Nino, caused by warming waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Crops and livestock were decimated, and reservoirs that supply the capital of La Paz and other cities have dropped to alarming levels. Lake Poopo, Bolivia's second-largest, has dried up entirely.

More:
http://www.chron.com/news/world/article/Severe-Bolivian-drought-hurts-crops-threatens-10832399.php

1 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

Severe Bolivian drought hurts crops, threatens capital Carlos Valdez, Associated Press Updated 3:06 (Original Post) Judi Lynn Jan 2017 OP

Sad. Bolivia struggles so much already. appal_jack Jan 2017 #1

appal_jack

(3,813 posts)

1. Sad. Bolivia struggles so much already.

Reply to Judi Lynn (Original post)

Wed Jan 4, 2017, 12:14 AM

Jan 2017

The high plains farmers depend upon quinoa & potatoes for their sustenance and livelihood.

One nit-picky thing; this sentence is incorrect:

But this season, all that could be seen was the straw color of dried-out stalks that never germinated amid Bolivia's worst drought in 30 years.

Quinoa is a small-seeded broadleaf plant that is direct-sown. So if there are stalks, then the seeds clearly germinated earlier. If there were no flowers on maturing quinoa plants, then the sentence should read "never flowered," "never pollinated," or "never ripened," depending upon when the drought cut the quinoa's productivity short.

It's terrifying that there is not even enough moisture to ripen quinoa. The plant is already so drought tolerant. Here in the eastern US, a friend looked into growing it, but our summer dews are so heavy that new quinoa seeds can actually germinate on the stalks of not-yet harvested plants in our climate. A rainfall near harvest would be disastrous. So what Bolivia is facing is bone-dry. Let's hope the rain returns for those farmers.

-app

Reply to this discussion