At noon on Monday, March 10, the Ministry of Agriculture Livestock and Food (Maga) He did not report damage to crops and animals after the eruption of the Volcano of Fire in Sacatepéquez.
Personal performs agricultural monitoring in 122 municipalities and nine departments, for the dispersion of ash of the volcano of fire.
“The current eruption of this colossus according to the Insivumeh produces gas and ash columns that reach a height of up to 7000 meters above sea level, which are dispersed 50 kilometers or more in the direction of the west, northwest and southwest,” says the report disclosed by the Geographic, Strategic Information Directorate and Risk Management (DIGEGR).
According to the document, “an analysis based on the projection of where the wind that carries the ash and its fall in agricultural territory is carried out, mainly in the departments of: Huehuetenango, San Marcos, Escuintla, Quiché, Totonicapán, Chimaltenango, Quetzaltenango, Sololá, Suchitepéquez, covering a territory of 512 thousand 961 hectares of the country”.
Recommendations to producers
As for the crops that are in agricultural monitoring by Digegr staff are: coffee, vegetables, avocado, flowers, tomatoes, foliage and orchards. One of the recommendations to producers, is that, if the ash fall is intense, keep animals in stables or in covered areas to reduce their exposure and prevent consumption water from becoming contaminated with ashes, cover or regularly change water.
For crops it is recommended to perform light irrigation to settle ash and avoid its suspension, but without saturating the ground. In addition, wash the leaves to avoid absorption and reduce the photosynthetic damage it could have.
Also, cover crops with mesh or plastic to avoid the accumulation of ash in the leaves and fruits, concludes the official bulletin.