In the lower portion of Mt Isarog, the most affected crops are the vegetables and rice and these are caused by both pest infestations and scarcity of water. Both rice and vegetables are water dependent and would dry up when the water is scarce. In the upland area, rice decay because the variety of rice planted those that do not need much water which the farmers generally call “hasok” (planting rice in kaingin areas).The negative impact of heavy rainfall is observed both in the upland and lowland area of Mt. Isarog which include the infestation of pests, fungi and viruses and the oversupply of water. In the lowland area, rice grows better than in the upland area but abaca, coconut and root crops are not much affected by the presence of extreme rainfall. Vegetables are seen to have negative impacts in both the upland and lowland Isarog. At this climatic condition,aeroponic tower garden system it is not good to plant vegetablese specially they are not water resistant.
Upland variety of rice does not thrive at this season but when irrigation is abundant, farmers can plant a variety of rice resistant to water. Better yield for abaca, coconuts and root crops is also expected and this is beneficial to the farmers engaged in this kind of farming. The negative impact of typhoon is not spared to all kinds of crops but it is more evident in the upland Isarog compared to that in the lowland area. Total destruction of crops means no yield and the farmers has to plant all over again or wait for the crops to recover and bear fruits as in the case of coconut.The impact of the delay onset of rainfall to crops is the upland and lowland area is lesser compared to the extreme heat. This climate imbalance results to the decaying of crops as in the case of vegetables or drying of crops as in the case of root crops. The delay supply of rainwater results in destruction of leaves, poor or slow growth of crops as in the case of vegetables.
It can be noted that cassava grows healthy and therefore resilient at this climatic condition. Other root crops are not resilient particularly the “camote ” which exhibit drying,dutch buckets for sale decaying and defective tubers. Crops like abaca and coconut are not affected by this climate change.Generally, the upland Isarog is affected during the delay onset of rainfall but the negative impact is more felt in the lowland area because of the inability of the farmers to plant. Farmers in the upland area are less affected but waiting for the crops to recover is something that they should be prepared of and root crops and vegetable farming is an alternative source of income. The lowland farmers are more favorably affected than the upland farmers because rain is available.Growing crops in the upland Isarog watershed area is favorable during the early onset of rain because this allows the farmers to plant their crops earlier. Coconuts and abaca are not also adversely affected. Farmers adapt to this climate change by planting crops that are resilient to heat or they can use intercropping.
On Climate Change through trainings and similar activities, education provides the farmers basic understanding of various climatic events that strikes in their locality and develop their knowledge on climate variability. Farmers’ education can also help farmers on proper crop selection and use of various agri-technological approaches suitable to extreme weather conditions. Farmers can also be given some alternative livelihood trainings so that while they wait for the next cropping season, they have other sources of income. Farmers can also be taught with proper pest and farm management in different climatic conditions. Farmers always experience losses whenever a calamity strikes and it is at this moment that farmers needed the support of the government through crop insurance, micro-financing and the like so that they will not be indebted so much to the middlemen who charges a large percentage of their produce and who have no choice but to sell their products to these middlemen at a much lower cost. To encourage farmers to avail of crop insurance, it can be given at lower cost and micro-financing at lower interest. Uganda has been ranked from the top five in the 2000s to current top ten banana-producing countries . The decline in banana production has been attributed majorly to decline in soil productivity .