Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697798916840.pdf (Dominica)
MONTHLY AGRO-METEOROLOGICAL BULLETIN Vol.

5 Issue 5 October — November 2016 OVERVIEW OF CONDITIONS FOR OCTOBER OVERVIEW OF CONDITIONS FOR NOVEMBER Dominica’s micro climate was evident during the month of October.

Weather condi!ons varied from above to normal rainfall totals and normal air temperatures on the east and central parts of the island to below normal rainfall totals and above normal record temperatures on the west coast.
Parameter Parameter (OCTOBER) Caneﬁeld Airport Douglas-Charles Airport Above to normal wet condi!ons were experienced across Dominica during the month of November.

A series of trough systems dominated the weather condi!on throughout the month and contributed to most of the month’s rainfall total.
Rainfall Total Rainfall Total Caneﬁeld Airport Parameter Parameter (NOVEMBER) Rainfall Total Rainfall Total 312.0mm (above normal) 127.5 to 252.6mm 127.5 to 252.6mm 127.5 to 252.6mm 9th (66.7mm) Douglas-Charles Airport 341.2mm ( nor- mal) 241.9 to 376.3mm 241.9 to 376.3mm 30th (50.6mm) 105.3mm (below normal) 137.2 to 213.3mm 137.2 to 213.3mm 137.2 to 213.3mm 6th (19.8mm) 370.4mm (above normal) 249.6 to 358.0mm 249.6 to 358.0mm 249.6 to 358.0mm 24th (87.8mm) T a b Normal e We"est day We"est day We"est day We"est day We"est day We"est day We"est day 2 N o v e m b e r Normal We"est day We"est day We"est day Wet Days (≥1.0mm) Wet Days (≥1.0mm) Temperature Temperature 30 year average 16 ( normal) 29.1°C 29.1°C 29.1°C 28.5°C 35.5°C (12th) 29 ( above normal) 28.3°C 28.3°C 28.3°C 28.3°C 28.3°C 28.3°C 28.2°C 32.4°C (9th) Temperature Temperature 30 year average 27.8°C 27.8°C 27.8°C 27.8°C 12 ( below nor- mal) 27.3°C 27.3°C 27.4°C 23 ( normal) l Maximum Tempera- ture Minimum Tempera- ture 23.2°C (11th) 21.6°C (27th) Rela#ve Humidity Maximum wind gust 72% 35km/h (20th) - Average daily sun- shine hours shine hours Normal 80% 61km/h (6th) Maximum Tempera- ture Minimum Tempera- ture Rela#ve Humidity 33.8°C (6th, 11th) 31.5°C (1st, 10th) 21.8°C (4,27,28 and 29th) 74% 20.5°C (4th) 81 r
Maximum wind gust 6hrs 48mins 6hrs 48mins 6hrs 48mins 6hrs 48mins 7hrs 06mins 44km/h (24th) 50km/h (15th) - Average daily
 sun- shine hours shine hours Normal 5hrs 42mins 5hrs 42mins 6hrs 22mins Figure 1 Daily rainfall at Canefield and Douglas-Charles Airports 1 OCTOBER NOVEMBER FARMING COMMUNITY ¨ ¨ Farmers who received damages during the passage of Tropical Storm Mathew con!nued to recover during October.
Vegetable farmers especially those plan!ng tomatoes and sweet peppers experienced setbacks to their crops resul!ng in low produc!on.

¨ Root crop farmers harvested their commodi!es such as dasheen, tannia and yams.

¨ Trough systems during the month impacted nega!vely on the farming community.

Heavy rainfall events result- ed in damages to farm access roads and farms with ex- posed soils faced loss of top soil.

Applied fer!lizers and other pest controlling measures lost their potency.
Tree crop producers lost some of their crops especially citrus and avocado whose fruits were maturing.

¨ However, condi!ons were favourable for other farm prac!ces such as land prepara!on and transplan!ng.

The main crops harvested for the period were: da- sheens, yams, citrus, passion fruit, avocados, banana and plantain.

Vegetable produc!on was rela!vely low with tomato produc!on being extremely low.

¨ Cocoa harvested early in the year was cured and is in high demand presently.
Coconuts are also in high de- mand both the dry nut and jelly nut.

Dasheen Cocoa Coconut ¨ A one week hydroponics training was conducted for vegetable farmers to assist them with other produc!on system.

Farmers expressed posi!ve feedback on the knowledge gained.

¨ The livestock unit of the Division of Agriculture under- took a Gastro Intes!nal Nematodes Survey to detect and analyse infesta!on levels.
¨ Surveillance for crop pest and diseases namely: The Black Sigatoka Dis- ease, Giant African Snails and Fruit con!nued Flies during October.

¨ Small ruminants had abundant of green foliage for the period.

Many producers treated their animals for worms and !cks.

¨ Pest problems proliferated during the month.

The Black Sigatoka Disease had a slight increase in infesta!on lev- els in the Musa species.
¨ There were Agro technicians on island promo!ng the use of organic products that are resistant to drought condi!ons and perform well under moisture regime.

Fruit ﬂy ¨ Farmers undertook land prepara!on ac!vi!es especial- ly weed management prac!ces and crop establishment.

¨ Between November 23rd and 25th many tree crops pro- ducers observed those days as the best in the year for plan!ng tree crops.

¨ IICA conducted its ﬁ#h webinar on the theme Caribbean Climate Smart Agriculture Forum.
Some of the discus- sion were centered on ways in which climate smart agri- cultural prac!ces can be scaled up in the future to reach a larger audience and have greater impact on food secu- rity and resilience in the farming community.

2 REGIONAL OVERVIEW ON SEASONAL FORECASTS FOR DECEMBER 2016-JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2017 Rainfall Outlook Þ The chances for 3-day extreme wet spells beyond De- cember are low at this !me.

Þ There are no drought concerns for Dominica for the season.
Þ Disrup!ons of outdoor ac!vi!es by rainfall will become fewer as the months progress.

Temperature Outlook Drought Alert Þ Forecast: Above to nor mal r ainfall totals can be expected for the season December 2016 to February 2017.

Þ There is a 50% chance for above normal rainfall; 30% chance normal and a 20% chance for below nor- mal.

Þ It is expected that the total number of wet days will range from 35 to 64 days, with expected 7-day wet spells to range from 0 to 3.
More comfortable temperatures than in recent months are expected during that !me of year.

However, tempera- tures are expected to be above to normal.

Heat waves are very unlikely throughout the period.
(Maximum temperature normal range: 28-30°C) (Minimum temperature normal range: 21-22°C) Maximum/ day-#me temperature Probability: 60% chance of above normal; 25% chance normal; 15% chance of below normal Minimum/ night-#me temperature Probability: 50% chance of above normal; 30% chance normal; 20% chance of below normal.

3 Vol.
3 Vol.

5 Issue 5 October—November 2016 GINGER BEER RECIPE Ingredients 1lb Fresh ginger root, peeled 10 cups Hot water 3-5 Whole cloves 1 Tbsp Cream of tartar 1/3 cup Fresh-squeezed lime juice 1 1/3 to 1 1/2 cups of sugar 2 Tbsp Rum (op!onal) Method 1.

In a blender, blend pieces of fresh ginger in batches with water and pour mixture in large bowl.

2.

Add cloves and cream of tartar to mixture and place in fridge overnight (or for at least four hours, if making same day).

3.
3.

Using a ﬁne strainer (or one with a cheesecloth), strain steeped ginger beer into another bowl.

4.

Add lime juice, sugar and, if using, rum to ginger beer and s!r.

5.

Pour into a large bo&le and store in fridge.

their crop establishment.

¨ Livestock farmers need to ensure that their animals are not in any ﬂood prone areas in case of sudden ﬂood events.

¨ Farmers in all agriculture regions can contact their exten- sion oﬃcers for upcoming trainings in soil tes!ng and fer!l- ity.
¨ The Black Sigatoka management team will con!nue work- ing with farmers on cultural prac!ce techniques.

¨ The cocoa coordinator will con!nue working with cocoa farmers.
CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER Parameter Caneﬁeld Airport Average Rainfall 76.7mm– 113.6mm Douglas-Charles Air- port 140.7mm – 209.6mm -highest total 294.2mm (2013) 631.4mm (2001) -lowest total 23.8mm (2010) 91.2mm (2009) Average Temper- ature -maximum 26.9°C 26.6°C 32.4°C (1997, 2003) 31.1°C (1987) -minimum 18.0°C (1991) 16.9°C (1991) Chance of 5 day dry spell Chance of 10 day dry spell 93% 25% FARMERS OUTLOOK 31% 7% FARMER’S OUTLOOK The 2016 Hurricane Season came to an oﬃcial end on Novem- ber 30th .
However, one must remain vigilant and always be prepared for extreme weather events outside the hurricane season.

The season was above normal with 15 named storms, 7 of which intensiﬁed to hurricane status and 3 major hurri- canes.

¨ With the predic!ons of a higher than normal rainfall farm- ers should be mindful of their applica!on of crop inputs such as fer!lizers and pest controlling measures.

¨ Soil and water management prac!ces should be priority for producers.
The soil management ac!vi!es need to focus on conserving and preserving the top soil.

¨ Vegetable farmers have to pay more a&en!on to the weather for the upcoming season, as the weather for the past three to four months have been unfavourable for cul- !va!ng par!cular types of vegetables.
¨ Crop farmers are encouraged to con!nue to expand on MOON PHASES FQ: 07th FM: 14th LQ: 21st NM: 29th Agromet bulletins from across the region can be accessed via http://rcc.cimh.edu.bb/climate-bulletins/agriculture/http://63.175.159.26/cami/ regional_bulletin.html.

This bulletin is prepared by the Dominica Meteorological Service with support from the CAMI project and the Ministry of Agriculture.

Feedback on this bulletin should be forwarded to metoﬃce@cwdom.dm or aictudoa@gmail.com .
Tele: 767 445 7878, 767 449 1990.

Website: www.weather.gov.dm Hotline: 447 5555 4