Farming and the Importance of Good Weather Condition.

October last year was the onset of the La Niña phenomenon. Forecast says that it will last until the first quarter of the 2022, that would be until March! Well, it’s February now and I can tell that the weather is getting better and preferable. It still rains but unlike in the last quarter of 2021, the sun shows up and the rain isn’t as heavy as the previous months.

La Niña is a weather phenomenon that characterize the increase and unusual oceanic temperature in the Pacific Ocean. It brings a lot of rain and tropical storms.

Too much water isn’t good for the plants. We waited for a days and even months to have a better weather. Less rain and plenty of sunshine to start planting.

Yesterday, after three weeks of land preparation we planted the corn seeds. With the help of the carabao, we plowed, harrowed and furrowed the soil. The area was once a cardava banana field. It’s a 5000 sq.meter piece of land. After 12 days we’ll apply a fertilizer to help the corn gain more nutrients to grow.

The counterpart of La Niña is El Niño. The surface water in the Pacific Ocean is unusually warm thus bringing less to no rain in the region.

Depending on the variety, it would take 90 to 115 days from planting to harvest the corn. Ours will be used for corn feeds. A buyer will come and pick it. They will process it to become corn grits and feeds for the fowls and poultry animals.

As scheduled, we’ll plant at a different area on Friday. It’s a 7000sq.meter piece of land area with calamansi plants in it. We’ll do intercropping as to not waste time while waiting for the calamansi plants to mature and bear fruits. We planted it last year. The area had been cleaned, and it’s ready for planting.

Extreme weather conditions like the La Niña and the El Niño greatly affects the farmers. Farmers need to adapt with the weather for planting. A perfect timing is the key to get a good harvest. That can be done by checking the weather forecasts and be updated.

Source:

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia

That’s all for today from your friendly farmer. Be safe and stay healthy!