The IDR-Paraná (Rural Development Institute of Paraná — Iapar-Emater) and Simepar (Environmental Technology and Monitoring System of Paraná) released this Friday (20) the last bulletin of the Frost Alert service this year. The service, activated in May, aims to alert rural producers, especially coffee growers, about possible cold waves that could harm agriculture. In this edition, 120 daily bulletins were issued with temperature forecasts and frost risk during the period of operation. The Frost Alert will be reactivated in 2025.
For coffee growers who have “earthed” the trunks of coffee trees, the guidance is to remove the protection manually, avoiding damage to the plants.
As has happened in the last two years, this winter there was no arrival of polar air masses with the potential to cause damage to agriculture. “It was an atypical season, with heat waves, atmospheric blockages and the El Niño phenomenon,” explains meteorologist Ângela Costa. El Niño raises the temperature of the waters of the Pacific, with an impact on global climate patterns.
Maps of winter temperatures in Paraná are available on the IDR Clima app, on the App Store, Google Play and on the IDR-Paraná website.
Coffee farming occupies 25,3 thousand hectares in Paraná, with an estimated production of 670 thousand processed bags this year. The activity is prominent in more than 180 municipalities, being the main source of income in more than 50, with 80% of the properties belonging to small family farmers.
To protect crops, Alerta Geada recommends hilling up soil up to the first pair of leaves on coffee plants aged six to 24 months, a technique known as “arrival of soil,” to prevent damage caused by severe frosts. The protection should be removed in mid-September, preferably by hand.
In new crops, up to six months old, it is recommended to bury the seedlings at the warning sign. Nurseries should be covered with plastic, removing the protection as soon as the cold weather passes.
For spring, which begins on Sunday (22), the La Niña phenomenon is expected to occur - which, unlike El Niño, is characterized by the cooling of the waters of the Pacific Ocean -, resulting in irregular rainfall and below the historical average expected for the period in Paraná, according to Ângela Costa.
Alerta Geada was created in 1995 to guide coffee growers in protecting new crops, and today it also serves other segments of agriculture and the economy, such as tourism, commerce and civil construction.
During the operation, researchers publish daily bulletins on weather conditions and polar masses. If there is a risk of frost, a warning is issued 48 hours in advance and, if the conditions persist, a new warning is given up to 24 hours in advance.
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