Volcanic ash damages 80.000 hectares of crops

The government of Ecuador said that the ash fall from the Sangay volcano has damaged around 80.000 hectares of crops.

Sangay is one of eight volcanoes on the Ecuadorean mainland which have been active in the past five centuries.

It is located in a mainly uninhabited region in the province of Morona Santiago, but Sunday’s eruption was so powerful that the ash has been carried into Ecuador’s agricultural and cattle region.

The strongest losses were registered in the provinces of Chimborazo and Bolívar and a medium impact in Guayas and Los Ríos.

There is also concern for the health of the inhabitants of 35 cantons, of the provinces of Chimborazo, Bolívar, Guayas, Los Ríos, Manabí and Santa Elena, due to the gray cloud that covered houses, streets, vehicles, crops and grass.

According to the Minister of Agriculture, Xavier Lazo, the intervention for the agricultural sector includes technical assistance, with the presence of mobile units, provision of food for livestock and the sending of motor pumps to clean the crops, in order to resume operation. normality in a maximum of four days, and boost the peasant family economy. 240 thousand kilos of food were sent for the cattle of Chimborazo and 200 thousand kilos for Bolívar, in parallel with veterinary attention, he said.

As of Monday, reports of ash fall, mild to moderate, still held in the provinces of Bolívar, Chimborazo, Los Ríos, Guayas and Santa Elena.