La niña phenomenon: impact on cape gooseberry production in Cundinamarca, Colombia

Abstract

In Colombia, the normal, or historical, hydrological cycle is interrupted by two cyclic atypical phenomena, the warm phase of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the phase, known as La Niña, characterized mainly by acute and abundant rain and increased river flow and subsequent flooding. The reverse phase, ENSO season 2010-2011, was the most catastrophic of the last 40 years in the country, leaving many losses in infrastructure, production, as well as causing an emergency or disaster situation for human populations. In the agricultural context , an analysis of the second product of non-traditional agricultural exports in the country, the Cape Gooseberry (Physalis peruviana), shows how the department of Cundinamarca, which was the main producer in the country, fell to third place by a convergence of climatic events, phytosanitary problems, and low prices of the fruit market. This modified the map of producer regions in Colombia, exposing the fragility of fruit production in the country, and particularly in Cundinamarca, under unusual weather phenomena.