Press Release

NARI's Response to El Nino-Induced Drought:
Contingency Plans for Farmers

18th April 2002

There have been media statements recently about a possible El Nino this year, one by the National Weather Service appeared on the Post Courier on March 11 and another by the World Meteorological Organization on March 28. It is not certain at this stage how the forecast El Nino will develop over the coming months. It is possible, even probable, that dry conditions will develop later this year, but the duration and severity of such conditions will depend on how SOI changes over the next few months. While it is highly unlikely that conditions will be as severe as the drought event of 1997, there is a greater chance of unusually dry weather than in any year since 1998.

Following the 1997/8 El Nino-induced drought, NARI has been researching to develop agricultural technologies for rural people to use to mitigate the effect of future droughts. Funded by the World Bank, the research is being carried out at Aiyura and Laloki. The three main components of the research project are crop and cultivar selection for drought tolerance, soil water management and development of farm-level contingency plans.

Farmers need to be prepared for droughts by adopting some or all of the following measures before the drought happens:

  1. Maintain a diversity of food crops including drought tolerant crops;
  2. Ensure a permanent water supply on farm both to provide drinking water and to ensure the safety of planting material;
  3. Consider storage of food on the farm to tide over dry spells;
  4. Ensure that when it rains water is not lost due to excessive run-off but is conserved in the soil;
  5. Where suitable water supplies are available irrigated crop production may be possible during droughts;
  6. Save money from sale of crops or other sources to enable people to buy food in times of drought.

The results of NARI research conducted since 1998 can contribute significantly to some of these strategies.

Drought tolerant and early maturing sweet potato varieties have been identified for both lowlands and highlands farming systems. High yielding varieties of cassava, a drought tolerant crop, have also been identified. Multiplication of these recommended varieties will start at the end of April when the trials will be concluded.

The project has identified simple low-cost water lifting devices available from India, which are being imported for testing in PNG. These low cost pumps and irrigation systems will be demonstrated starting in May-June this year and it is envisaged that they will be successful given current assessments. If successful and popular they could be easily manufactured in PNG workshops.

In order to have food available in times of drought, farmers are advised to maintain a diversity of crops, including cassava and Kalapua bananas, which are drought tolerant. Recommended drought tolerant varieties of sweet potato selected by NARI will be available after June 2002.

The research strategies and results must be understood, accepted and disseminated to beneficiaries and target groups and along that line a stakeholder workshop will be convened from 7 to 9 May at NARI Aiyura to discuss and publish coping strategies and farm-level contingency plans for droughts. These Contingency Plans will include technologies developed by the Drought Response Project which people can adopt pre-drought, mid-drought and post-drought.

Dr Sergie Bang - Drought Response Project Leader