• For some applications such as modelling the impact of climate change within a sector the availability of long series of meteorological data for historical and future periods is quite useful. One of the ways such a long series may be generated is through the use of a weather generator
• In this case study data from the CARIWIG weather generator is used to provide input to the FAO AquaCrop model calibrated on sweet potato to determine the impact of future climate change on field grown sweet potato production.
• High increases in both yield and biomass (up to 40%) are indicated for 2041-2070 relative to 1981-2010 under the A1B (medium emissions) scenario with a decrease in reference evapotranspiration (ETo). This combined effect of higher productivity and reduced ETo is associated with an increase in water productivity (up to 108%)

This study aimed to assess the impact of future climate change on field grown sweet potato production. Jamaica currently accounts for 66% of sweet potato production among all CARICOM states and the crop contributed to the 8% increase in non-traditional agricultural exports in 2012 over 2011. The mandate of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries is to promote food security and food safety and increased sweet potato production is identified as one of the targeted interventions through which these will be achieved. The objective of this study was to determine the percentage change in yield, biomass, evapo-transpiration and water productivity across three varieties of sweet potato for 2041-2070 relative to 1981-2010. The varieties examined are Ganja, Uplifta and Yellow Belly.

Picture: US Department of Agriculture