Agronomists now have to monitor the return of an insect that years ago destroyed large areas of pine forests. It came with a drought caused by El Niño, a phenomenon that once again threatens agriculture and drinking water sources in Central America.
Last January, President Juan Orlando Hernández warned of the return of Dendroctonus frontalis, which between 2013 and 2017 destroyed 511,000 of the 1.9 million hectares of Honduran conifers.
The destructive animal reappeared at a time when Central America is facing a severe drought that causes crop losses and drastic rationing of water for human consumption, which may be exacerbated by the El Niño phenomenon.
The World Food Program (WFP) noted in a report that
after several months of flirting, the tropical Pacific Ocean and the atmosphere appear to have been coupled (…) and now meet the criteria for El Niño conditions.”
The phenomenon aggravates drought conditions in the Central American Dry Corridor, which extends from northwest Costa Rica along the Pacific coast to Guatemala.
Environmentalist Ricardo Navarro, from the Salvadoran Center for Appropriate Technology (Basket), explains that projections indicate that this year it will be moderate, although he urged countries to prepare because the phenomenon will affect farmers in the region.
El Salvador still resents the drought of 2018, which, according to a study by the Agricultural Economics Department, ruined 20,303 hectares that had to produce 2.1 million quintals of corn, which represented 13.35% of the expected production in the first sowing.
In Guatemala so far this year there have been reports of losses of corn and beans “due to lack of rain” that have affected 894 families in six municipalities of the northern department of Petén, bordering Mexico and Belize, according to his minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food, Mario Méndez.
Nicaragua also reported being affected by the drought that in 2018 caused losses in agriculture and livestock.
In Costa Rica, the northern producers warned that the production of tubers and fruits is at risk and the country may have to import rice due to the decrease in the planting area.
Nearly 300,000 Costa Rican users have problems of water shortages and this figure might increase, according to Alex Solis, head of the National Emergency Commission, which coordinates a committee to address the climate phenomenon.