Some Crops Can Help Farmers Prepare for Disasters
Choosing the right plants and planting times can reduce losses from extreme weather. Transcript of radio broadcast:
08 February 2010
This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
Farmers may not be able to prevent natural disasters, but they can at least try their best to reduce losses.
For example, they can plant crops that are more likely to survive extreme weather. In north-central Vietnam, people with small farms do not plant rice between September and December. Seasonal rains might destroy the rice. So instead, they plant lotus seeds on raised beds. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says the lotus seeds bring a good price in local markets.
Farmers in the Philippines are showing new interest in crops like winged beans, string beans, arrowroot and cassava. The Asian Disaster Preparedness Center says traditional crops like these can survive the fierce storms that often strike the islands.
Bambara groundnutsThe United Nations says some African farmers grow bambara groundnuts during long dry periods. The seeds of this drought-resistant plant can be boiled for eating or for making flour.
In some parts of the world, farmers grow vetiver grass. Researchers in Thailand wrote about vetiver in two thousand seven in the journal ScienceAsia. They noted that the grass can absorb and control the spread of harmful wastewaters, like those from pig farms.
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