In the spring-summer 2023 cycle, the Ministry of Agriculture carried out 99 rain stimulation flights to address the effects of drought and contribute to the recharge of aquifers in 8 states.
For the third consecutive year, these actions were successfully applied by the National Commission of Arid Zones (Conaza), with the support of the Secretariat of National Defense. In the first nine months of 2023, 10 thousand liters of the silver iodide reagent were released to stimulate rainfall.
The largest number of flights was carried out at polygons in Sinaloa, with 25; in Chihuahua, there were 18; the Lagunera Region and Aguascalientes, with 15 flights each entity; Sonora, with 14 and San Luis Potosí, with 12 flights.
The process consists of releasing silver iodide molecules in the path of the clouds, which generates a chemical reaction that allows rain to precipitate in the polygons of interest.
The Ministry of Agriculture reported that, for example, the project in the Lagunera Region concluded on September 29. In its polygons, 500 liters of reagent were dispersed, which is an environmentally friendly substance in the region that includes the states of Coahuila, Zacatecas and Durango.
With preliminary information, the stimulation of rainfall gave the opportunity to achieve greater precipitation and response of the vegetation within the work polygons.
In 2021, this 100% Mexican technology allowed an average increase of 45.1 percent in excess rainfall. According to the American Meteorological Society, increases between 10 and 20 percent are successful.
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Thus, the effects of the drought were mitigated in 85.2 percent of the polygons with an area of 8.2 million hectares in the states of Sonora, Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Zacatecas and Tamaulipas.
The benefits were for more than 150 thousand inhabitants in the areas of influence, mostly agricultural producers, by giving certainty to agricultural production under irrigation and rainfed.
And it contributed to the storage of water in the dams of the participating States with an increase in the volume of 53.6 percent, going from 5 thousand 198.9 to 15 thousand 671.7 cubic hectometers. This allowed us to exceed the average estimates and ensured water for the autumn-winter cycle.
In addition, it contributed to the recharge of the aquifers, which is more noticeable in low-scale ones such as Laguna de Mexicanos, in Chihuahua, where it is estimated that the average annual recharge was reached.
According to the statement from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, these results allow us to advance in the goal of achieving food security with sovereignty in the country.
This rain stimulation project also helped combat at least 25 forest fires in Nuevo León and Chihuahua and quelled a remaining conflagration in the Sierra de Arteaga, in Coahuila.
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The government of the State of Michoacán expressed its interest in this rain stimulation project in 2024 being implemented in the entity, to prevent and mitigate the effects of the drought that in 2023 affected areas such as Tierra Caliente.
2023-12-31 22:52:37
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