The start of the rainy season in Colombia has begun, and they hope it will not be as bad as last year. Over half the departments where crops are grown are at high risk and under the threat of an emergency due to earlier rains in November and December of 2011.
Final estimates from the crops grown in Colombia for the 2011/2012 growing season have not yet been released by the Ministry of Agriculture. The third and final reporting cycle is due out in another month. During the last two years, heavy rains prevailed, causing floods and landslides, overflowing rivers and lakes that affected nearly 80 percent of the nation. Crops have been affected.
The coffee crop is much lower in production in 2011/12 Compared to the previous two seasons, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. Food crops such as corn and rice was affected in 2011/12, too. USDA’s March 2012 estimate for Colombian corn production for 2011/12 was at 1550 thousand tons, up from 2010/11 by 7 percent but down 4 percent from 2009/10.
With soil moisture excellent, crop prospects are good; however, concern for landslides, overflowing rivers and flooding is high for Colombia as it enters its winter rainy season. Some areas of Colombia have not recovered from last year’s floods and standing water is still present. There are about 122 areas that have potential problems according to the director of the National Relief Colombian Red Cross, Cesar Uruena. More than 3,700 public work projects need repair in the country from last year’s devastating rainy season. The Colombian president, Juan Manuel Santos, has stated that it will take more than a year to simply repair roads and mitigate areas affected by landslides and flooding in 2011. Locations with problems include around Magdalena, Sucre, Atlántico, Bolivar, Cesar, Santander, Antioquia, Chocó, and Coffee.