Tuesday, November 29, 2011 10:00 A.M.
In the last week of November of this year, our crops and in general the whole country has been affected by cold fronts, which have generated strong variations in our vegetable crops. French Beans have specially been affected.

According to Newsletter No. 2276 from the National Coordination for Disaster Reduction (CONRED) and the weekly meteorological newsletter issued by the National Institute for Seismology, Vulcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology of Guatemala (INSIVUMEH) cold north winds will dominate this week over Guatemalan territory, generating partial clouds with scattered showers in Northern Regions of the country, specially early in the week.

Starting next Thursday, as north winds decrease, cold temperatures could fall, specially the Central and Western Highlands. Few clouds are expected in the Central Plateau with long periods of sunshine, cold at night and early morning in the Central and Western Highlands. Moderate winds prevailing from the north at 30 to 40 km an hour (19 to 25 miles an hour). In the capital city, lows of 10 to 12°C (50–54°F) are expected, and in the Western Highlands, 0 to 2°C (32- 36°F).

Alta Verapaz and the Northern Transversal Strip will be partly cloudy with showers early in the week. On Wednesday, there will be a few clouds with long periods of sunshine, cold at night and early morning. Lows of 8 to 10°C (46-50°F) are expected in Alta Verapaz, according to INSIVUMEH. The main problem lies in having had the end of a severe rainy season (12E storm) marked by a sharp cutoff of all the rain, a change of cero rain in many areas of the country. This fact caused water stress in the few fields that were able to recover after weeks of intense rains.

Our Agricultural-Technical Department personnel has been making an effort to restore and rescue crops that have endured these weather conditions through nutrition programs for plant strengthening and physiological recovery and continuous support to our producers in the field.

With the excessive cold weather we´ve had lately, the same fields that have been affected the most, are the same ones that had problems with the rain last October. These were weak and vulnerable, susceptible to not being able to withstand such severe weather changes. Last weekend and last night, there were frosts and cold showers that have ended these stages, the ones that should be in full production.

For several weeks, we have been reporting on variation in volume and percentage of losses. So many weather changes have forced us to constantly modify our projections. Additionally, some fields that have not suffered total destruction enter into a lethargic process (numbness) which doesn´t allow plants to grown to the extent necessary for harvest, thus delaying collection of raw material.

Fields planted after the storm, after having prepared the land properly for new stages, are developing very well. Fortunately, these plants have the capacity of better bearing extreme temperature changes. Its harvest is estimated to start normally from weeks 51 to 52 during December.

Likewise, Unispice already begun with an infrastructure and technical assistance program in areas where relief is needed because of problems caused due to severe weather changes of greenhouse effect. For the following seasons we expect to offer more reliable programs, in which we will offer our growers better options in the planting and harvesting processes.

For the time being, we are harvesting and collecting all the product that we can, in order to ensure shipments in the coming days. We will be notifying you on volumes achieved.