MG: Low relative humidity harms crops and raises awareness among the population

The State Coordination of Civil Defense (Cedec) issued an alert to the population of Minas Gerais due to the low relative humidity expected for the next few days. This decrease is caused by a dry air mass that affects much of the state.

The lack of moisture in the air can cause a variety of symptoms, such as headache, nosebleeds, irritation and dryness in the throat, feeling of sand in the eyes, dry skin, fatigue and discomfort when breathing. The recommendation is to avoid the practice of physical exercises between 10 am and 4 pm – and still keep the house well ventilated and increase the consumption of fruits and vegetables. Another alternative is to make the environment more humid.

In addition, low humidity can further harm rural producers. Agriculture and all agribusiness in general depend on rain to water and bring vitality to the soil. Without rain, soil quality is compromised, thus impacting agricultural production.

Crops and market consultant Evandro Oliveira explains that the low humidity causes plantations to take time to evolve, which ends up harming the healthy development of crops.

“In times when we face low humidity and intense cold, crops tend to develop slowly. So they take a long time to reach maturity and this will slow down the evolution of the crop a little, and sometimes it will even rid them of some diseases. Some things that may be related to this, but there is a need for a unit — so it cannot last too long”, explained the consultant.

He also claims that products such as soy, corn and coffee are directly impacted by climate.