Where you farm in Madagascar decides which of two problems you're…

Where you farm in Madagascar decides which of two problems you're actually planning for this season.

In the deep south — Androy, Anosy, Atsimo-Andrefana — expect a hotter, later, shorter rainy season. Last year the region saw rainfall deficits of 200-300mm between October and December. Cassava is the crop that carries you through it: the roots hold safely in the ground for 8 to 12 months, so you're not forced to dig everything at once. Add orange-fleshed sweet potato for the vitamin A, and never take a cutting from a plant with yellow-mottled, twisted leaves — that's cassava mosaic disease, and sanitation is the only control there is.

On the east coast, the cyclone risk is real every year — last season brought three cyclones in three weeks, each dropping up to 300mm in a week. Before November: seal your grain store, clear drainage so a flooded field empties within a day, and keep a spare bag of seed or a few kapoaka of rice ready so you can replant fast once the water goes down.

In the highlands, get a short-cycle, cold-tolerant rice nursery ready so you can transplant the day the water actually arrives instead of waiting on it.

Which of these three is closest to your zone this season? Reply and tell us.

https://divisi.africa/insights/madagascar-el-nino-rice-cassava-cyclone-drought/