Project Summary

Agricultural Climate Change Evaluation for Production, Transformation and Resilience (ACCEPT Resilience)’ gives the Jamaican agriculture a unique opportunity to truly assess, quantify crop yields and the drought and salt tolerance limits of root and tuber crops in different agro ecological zones across Jamaica. It will ultimately develop a tool to quantify the effects of current climate variability and predicted climate changes, especially extremes of rainfall and rising temperatures, focusing on the climate-resilient crops, cassava and sweet potato.

The Components Include

  1. Collection of data on crop production, climate (historic, current, future), input to crop models AquaCrop and DSSAT and validation;
  2. Creation interactive gridded map (20km resolution) with options for assessing yields and a user manual, academic and policy reports;
  3. Training and capacity building workshops;
  4. Assessment of production in areas with saline intrusion.
  5. Development of an online platform for farmers, extension officers and other sector stakeholders. The Platform will facilitate the retrieval of predicted yields and biomass of different crop types under varying scenarios of water limitation, climate (present and future), and management options.

Expected Outcomes

  1. Education and training for Farmers, extension areas and students at different levels
  2. Globally accessible portal-with log in requirements to track usage
  3. Graphical interface- Gridded map
  4. Retrieval of potential yield (and biomass) based on weather, soil type and management
  5. Future Production under climate change: Yield variations based on Temperature and Rainfall changes.
  6. Evaluation of monetary returns (for selected scenarios) and strategic decision making for production (e.g. best planting dates, planting densities, irrigation requirements etc.)

Reach

The project will target main production areas in southern Jamaica including Clarendon and St. Catherine. It has the potential to revolutionize agriculture by identifying drought tolerant crops and varieties in the face of climate change, optimizing yields in present and future climates and mainstreaming impact modelling into the routine operations of the sector.

Collaborators

  • Departments of Physics and Life Sciences, The University of the West Indies, Mona
  • Desnoes and Geddes Foundation:
    • Red Stripe Limited
    • Project Grow Team
  • Meteorological Service, Jamaica
  • Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA)
  • Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience (PPCR) -Local and Regional
  • Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI)

Sponsors

  • Adaptation Programme and Financing Mechanism (AP & FM) for the National PPCR
  • Caribbean Regional Track of the Pilot Prgramme for Climate Resilience (PPCR)