Apart from projections of greater storm activity over the past decade, extremes of drought and rainfall have made many farmers hard pressed to make ends meet.
Severe rainfall in Trinidad have damaged an estimated 20 percent of the country's January vegetable crop and has flooded the northern acreages of the country's rice producer Caroni 1975 Limited. Although the heavy rains came after a significant portion of the crop was harvested, the lingering water damaged paddies still in the ground and delayed the company's schedule for preparing the land for next season's crop.
Prime Minister Basdeo Panday declared the flooded zones along the country's east-west corridor disaster areas and sent in emergency equipment and personnel to assist farmers and residents stuck the highest rainfall recorded in a decade. With the declaration, some farmers were entitled to compensation for lost crops and other types of government support for next year's crops.
In Jamaica, drought had the same impact on agriculture as overall production fell to its lowest level for more than 10 years. In the three months between April and June this year, local farmers stopped planting a range of crops as the widespread drought forced them to limit losses, states the latest Economic Update & Outlook by the Planning Institute of Jamaica.
"Farmers are the hardest hit by the rising temperatures, and it is costing more to produce less," said Thomas Burton, deputy executive director of Jamaica's Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA).
"From November 1998 to October 1999, national agricultural production fell by 26 per cent when compared to the 97 to 98 production, and the increase in temperature affects the capacity of livestock and crops," he added.
According to the Met Office, the average temperature at the Norman Manley Airport between 1992 and 1997 was 29.7 degrees Celsius in July - a full degree higher than the average temperature between 1951 and 1980.
"The rises in temperature have been linked to global warming, but a lot of the causes are unknown," he said. "Some changes have also been linked to deforestation, and nomadic farming which destroys watershed areas.
"The whole weather pattern has changed since 1988," says Burton. "Prior to that, farmers could have planned around the heavy rainfall in the spring and fall seasons, but things have started to get even more severe from the 1997-1998 period."
The 17-month drought Jamaica experienced between 1997-98 was blamed on the El Niņo phenomenon.
Government has promised drought assistance to the tune of J$80 million, and at least J$30 million has been dispensed to needy farmers. The aid comes in kind, with seeds, fertiliser, land preparation, planting materials, small livestock and feed, and minor irrigation systems being the main inputs.
Meanwhile, the export crop production index declined by 40.4 per cent because of the fall in the volume of sugar milled and banana produced for export. Sugar volumes fell 44 per cent to 612,162 tonnes as the cropping pattern was changed due to a previous drought conditions.
Livestock yields are also at risk from the extreme weather. According to Dr. Paul Cadogan, a veterinarian who works in Clarendon. Hot weather can cause heat stress, reducing fertility and leading to sperm damage as well as lack of libido in male animals, a fall in milk production in cows, and death to chickens, and even dogs.
"Sperm damage is possible, but if the animal is stressed, its libido may go down, and hence its performance will be down," Dr. Cadogan said. "Some cows like the Holstein are less productive in hot conditions as they prefer to huddle under trees to keep cool instead of grazing."
The construction of new, tunnel ventilated/ temperature-controlled units in the poultry industry has reduced the number of birds that usually die from heat stress during the hot time of year.
Although weather officials were reluctant to link recent weather changes to global warming, records show that the average temperatures and rainfall in Jamaica has taken a turn for the worst. Average temperatures between 1992 and 1997 was 29.7 degrees Celsius in July, a full degree higher than the average temperature between 1951 and 1980.
Average rainfall between October and December, from 1961 to 1990, fell by about 20 millimetres when compared to the same months in the years 1951 to 1980.
"We might be having droughts more frequently but it's not conclusive that this can be linked to climate changes," says Jeffrey Spooner, of Jamaica's Met Office. "How can you tell that this is not merely a cycle? I will hesitate to say that climate change has affected rainfall. We have to do a lot more studies before we can determine that."