agricultural

Elizabeth Church traveled to the Dominican Republic to work with greenhouse technicians to implement integrated pest management and biological controls (IPM). The overall goal of this project was to increase the resilience to changing weather patterns of greenhouse technicians in the Jarabacoa region by helping them implement IPM systems. Biological controls can minimize pesticide use and improve overall sustainability of the operation. Many of the crops in the greenhouses have been negatively affected by various pests and diseases. Reoccurring problems that were observed by Elisabeth include whitefly on the tomatoes, Diptera larvae pests and thrips damage in peppers, and fusarium and charred rice hull in cucumbers. Elizabeth found that none of the greenhouses were ready for biological control implementation and estimated that the greenhouses need 1-2 more years of proper IPM practices in place before successful biological controls can be implemented. Elizabeth had the opportunity to m...

deforestation is prevalent throughout the province Last Tuesday, it was Independence Day for the Dominican Republic! So, here is a blog about some awesome work that is happening there now! Soil expert Jeff Knowles visited a staggering fifteen farms as he engaged with informal discussions with community leaders and farmers on soil quality. Mission ILAC is an organization that focuses on agricultural problems in the remote  and poorer communities in the Santiago and La Vega provinces. A principal goal is to work directly with community leaders to help farmers achieve food sustainability while also reducing chemical usage.  ILAC focuses on cacao and rust resistant varieties of coffee to reverse the effects of farms devastated by coffee rust. Deforestation is extensive in the region due to severe coffee rust years ago followed by the conversion of forest to pastureland as farmers switched to cattle raising. Because of this, Jeff focused on discussions and training centered ar...

The Dominican Republic has a long and rich history in the production of cacao. However, farmers have struggled to increase the resilience of their cacao yields to changes in the climate. Rebecca Roebber, Marketing Director and COO of indi chocolate , recently traveled to the Dominican Republic to share her expertise in cacao production and quality assurance. In particular, Rebecca worked alongside IDIAF ( Instituto Dominicano De Investigacion Agropecuarias Y Forestales) staff members to help them improve their production practices to become more sustainable in face of climate change and increase the quality and value of their cacao. Following an initial assessment of their current production practices, Rebecca provided training sessions on methods to increase the quality of organic cacao through improvements in pruning and post harvest practices. She also emphasized the importance of soil nutrition to ensure the quality and sustainability of their cacao yields. Rebecca also noted a si...

A report recently released by the Climate Institute – "A Brewing Storm: The climate change risks to coffee" – uses existing data and compiles information from a variety of studies to indicate that climate change will have a strong effect on the global coffee supply. Rising temperatures threaten farmland, reducing the land area suitable for coffee farming. Extreme weather like worsening drought and heavier downpours also impact yields. Climate changes are intensifying the prevalence of diseases and pests like coffee rust and coffee berry borer, which contribute to millions of dollars in lost coffee beans every year. Additionally, farmers and laborers exposed to rising temperatures experience heat related illnesses that affected their long-term well-being, as well as their productivity. Complicating matters is the fact that the coffee market is currently saturated and producers are subject to price volatility. Because the majority of the world’s 25 million coffee producers are...

Do you know what it means to be climate-smart? For smallholder banana farmers in the Dominican Republic, climate-smart agriculture can mean the difference between surviving and thriving during extreme weather events. Find out how Partners' Farmer-to-Farmer strategy in the DR is leveraging the agricultural knowledge of American agricultural experts to help Dominicans become more resilient to climate change and ensure a food secure future for their families!

This article is a contribution to a blog series on how Partners Agriculture and Food Security programs contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals . This week’s blog highlights what Farmer-to-Farmer volunteers have been doing to achieve SDG 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. The Dominican Republic currently has one of the highest amounts of available fresh water in Latin America, but global climate change has led to more frequent and severe droughts, floods and storms on the island. These non-typical climatic events have reduced both the quality and quantity of the country’s supply of fresh water for human consumption and agriculture. By adapting agricultural practices to global climate change, Partners aims to create sustainable economic development that benefits producers and consumers as they become more resilient to a changing environment. As we approach the halfway point in our 2013-2018 F2F cycle, volunteers have already made huge progress in...