Agriculture in Rio Grande do Sul may be damaged by an extratropical cyclone. SC and PR show occasional losses

So far, the Civil Defense of Rio Grande do Sul has identified 62 municipalities affected by the weather event, the main occurrences are windstorms, hail and heavy rains, which have caused flooding in the state. Santa Catarina recorded wind gusts of over 150 km/h, a strong wind that was also recorded in Paraná, especially on the coast and in the metropolitan region of Curitiba.

gaucho agriculture

The Rural Development Secretariat of Rio Grande do Sul (SDR-RS) reported that there is no risk of population shortages due to the extratropical cyclone. Damages related to losses in agriculture and livestock are still being assessed.

The intense rains were highlighted by the technical director of Emater/RS, Claudinei Baldissera, as a possible problem for agriculture in the state. He points out that some cities in the state had rainfall between 100 and 200 millimeters, and that this strong rainfall movement could cause damage, which will still be accounted for in the coming days.

“But at first, it is estimated that it is still not possible to say whether there is damage that impacts the culture or not. What happens is that some municipalities have areas that are a little more pronounced, where an erosion process has been formed, from an initial erosion process to some erosions with grooves and a little more accentuated there in the evolution of erosion”, he explained.

These erosions mainly damage wheat crops, which are at the beginning of their vegetative development, with around 88% of the predicted sown area and 30% in the germination phase. In addition, according to information passed on by producers from different regions to the state’s Secretary of Rural Development, damage to the production of vegetables, especially leafy ones, must also be registered.

In addition to the damage to production, agricultural infrastructure was also affected in the northwest of Rio Grande do Sul, especially by windstorms, as explained by Emater’s technical director. “These are municipalities in the northwest region of the state, around Santa Rosa, which had some damage due to wind, in infrastructure. Infrastructure of sheds, pig breeding. One of the municipalities, called Sede Nova, has already declared a state of calamity, because there was a very significant event, which affected both urban areas, the city, and the infrastructure of the countryside, such as sheds and houses”, explained Baldissera.

Paraná and Santa Catarina have punctual damages

Santa Catarina presented specific losses linked to agriculture, according to information from the state’s Agricultural Research and Rural Extension Company, Epagri. Paraná also presented damage concentrated mainly in the coastal region of the state.

The manager of the Paranaguá region of the Paraná Rural Development Institute, Satoshi Osmar Nonaka, explained that the field teams were still surveying the details of the damage on the coast of Paraná. “There was damage, yes. We have a lot of olericulture, fruit, banana, passion fruit, heart of palm, mainly peach palm, which are larger trees, so they fall and cut down these plantations and cause very big damage ”, he contextualized.

Among the most affected municipalities in Paraná are Morretes, Guarçouba, Guaratuba and Antonina. In this region, horticulture and fruit growing stand out, especially with the production of banana and peach palm, whose trees may have suffered the impact of the strong winds caused by the extratropical cyclone in the region.