Climate change is a divisive issue. Some believe that it is real and happening right now. Others won’t budge and will give life and limb to deny any facts being presented and say it’s just a product of some scientist’s imagination.
I belong to the former. And I believe climate change has undeniable effects on agriculture.
If you need to know more facts and want to better understand climate change, NASA and the UN might be able to help.
While many are still denying that climate change is happening, people are already feeling the brunt of it. In agriculture, farmers are already suffering because of climate change.
The holy trinity of climate change- rising temperature, rising sea water level, and unpredictable weather conditions. These are the effects of climate change affecting agriculture.
The Philippines, an agricultural country, is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, including sea level rise, increased frequency of extreme weather events, rising temperatures and extreme rainfall.
I will not bother you with statistics. I am here to state my view in a plain and simple vantage point of a rural farmer about climate change and its undeniable effects on agriculture.
I grew up in a village of rice farmers. Daily activities revolve around rice cultivation. People would wake up early to work in the rice paddies- weeding out unwanted grasses and pests, applying fertilizers, maintaining sufficient water levels/drainage. All of these activities are done before noon when the sunlight isn’t too hot to bear.
During the middle of the day, farmers either take short naps or share stories with fellow farmers under a shed. They would resume working when it’s a bit cooler to work in the fields.
Before sunset, farmers would return home. Evenings are typically spent relaxing or preparing for the next day’s work. An ordinary and predictable life of a farmer.
Season after season, rain and sun, planting rice is just an ordinary way of life. It is predictable and simple.
This is my distant memory of a farmer’s daily activity here in our village. Becoming a farmer myself, I realized that my memory of those old farming days is indeed a distant one.
Then everything changed because of unpredictable weather conditions, extreme heat, and sometimes, rising sea water level.
After our March harvest this year, we still haven’t been able to plant. April and May are understandably the dry months. By June, the rainy season starts. But rain did not come until September. That is almost six months of drought. Without a consistent amount of rain to irrigate our fields, even if there is a water pump, nobody dared to plant. One planting cycle was lost.
Last year, between the months of September and December, farmers harvested their crops under an unpredictable downpour of rain. Causing low quality rice harvest and eventually farmer’s loss.
You may be reading this at the comfort of your home and office. You may haven’t noticed how hot the sun was this morning or how strong the spurts of rain last night. Living in a city somewhat distances you from the effects of this changing climate.
As farmers, temperature and the amount of rain and sunlight are the most crucial aspects of our lives. Over the years, temperature, weather conditions, and sea levels have changed. It did not happen overnight. It happened little by little, bit by bit. But the gradual change has a significant effect in our activities.
These effects of climate change result in higher operating costs, low harvests, and eventually, farmer’s loss. Farmers losing money and unable to farm will cause lower food production.
With an ever growing population, imagine our country with very low food production. Seeing my point?
Right now, climate change is not just a figment of a farmer’s imagination. This is now our reality. It is causing us money and is affecting us farmers right in our very core.
Climate change is here. How long? It’s up to us. If most of us fail to acknowledge that climate change is indeed happening, then it will be here until the end of the human race. If we all agree and unite, maybe there is something we could do about it.
In the agriculture sector, some farmers are becoming more aware. Others are making significant changes already. They are thinking of ways to lessen their dependence on synthetic fertilizers by reducing its usage and shifting to organic, regenerative, and natural farming.
As a farmer, I don’t see a silver bullet that will end our current plight. One thing I am fully aware of though, farmers are resilient and we thrive in adversity. We adapt.
Currently, all I can do is talk or rather- write about the reality of climate change. It doesn’t do much, but it does add one more voice. One in particular- a farmer’s voice.
Keep growing,
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Disclaimer: All images were created using Canva unless stated otherwise.
