Week 43: Intense Rains Continue

Intense rains continued during week #43 at the source with a cumulative precipitation of 102.6 mm (4 in.). Totally overcast days and high humidity continues to be the pattern, a rather normal  state of affairs for the months of November and December which are usually very wet but not the expected weather pattern during the month of October. October ended as the rainiest month of the year and one of the rainiest Octobers of the last ten years. Abnormal for our region which is usually dry and hot during this month. Ambient and soil temperatures are dropping very early and faster than prior history and this gives us concern about an increase in the risk of an early NDF event. We are reinforcing our field sampling program and greater care in the selection of fruit harvested in order to prevent quality issues like water spot and high translucency – both major threats during this type of weather. These extreme climatic changes keep us on our toes and  require us to maintain a rigorous field control to maintain a stable quality of the fruit for sure this is something we have learned over the last  ten years that we have been producing pineapples in this area.