El Niño: the climate challenge reshaping agriculture
The anomalous warming of the Pacific Ocean triggers severe disruptions in rainfall patterns, temperature, and crop yields across Latin America.
What El Niño is and why it affects your crops
Pacific warming
The surface temperature of the tropical Pacific Ocean rises between 0.5°C and 5°C, altering rainfall and temperature patterns across the region.
Disruption of the water cycle
Normally rainy areas dry up. Arid areas receive extreme rainfall. Familiar agricultural patterns stop being reliable.
Intensified abiotic stress
Extreme heat, drought, and excess humidity strike simultaneously, triggering abiotic stress and reducing crop yield.
3-to-7-year cycles
The phenomenon recurs irregularly, lasting 9 to 24 months. Its effects on soil and crops persist even after it ends.
How El Niño affects each region
Choose your region
Tap a region to see how it is affected
Mango · Grape · Blueberry · Asparagus
Peru
ENFEN keeps its alert and expects the event to last until mid-autumn 2027. On the northern coast it forecasts above-normal rainfall, with moderate to heavy episodes from November — a key zone for export mango, grape and blueberry.
Coffee · Sugarcane · Palm · Banana
Colombia
The National Council for Disaster Risk Management approved it unanimously before the impact arrived. IDEAM expects less rain in the Pacific, Andean and Caribbean regions, with the most critical window between September 2026 and January 2027.
Wheat · Tomato · Corn · Avocado
Mexico
Moderate-to-severe drought rose to 8.9% of the territory in just two weeks, up 5.4 points. Severe drought already reaches municipalities in Coahuila, Chihuahua, Sonora, Tamaulipas, Oaxaca and Veracruz: the risk is not limited to the north.
Coffee · Corn · Beans · Sugarcane
Central America
The Dry Corridor —Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua— is already feeling it. Oxfam and Action Against Hunger assessed 354 communities in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador: more than 70,000 corn-farming households reported losses, and 65.4% report similar severity in beans.
Soybean · Corn · Coffee · Sugarcane
Brazil
The only country on the map where El Niño pulls in opposite directions: more rain and a bigger harvest in the South, rains that stop early in Mato Grosso, and less rain in the North and Northeast.
Sources: ENFEN Official Statement No. 16-2026 (Sep 14, 2026) · Decree 0802 of 2026, UNGRD · IDEAM · Mexico Drought Monitor, CONAGUA (Aug 31, 2026) · Oxfam and Action Against Hunger (Aug 2026) · IMEA (Sep 2026)
One phenomenon, three Brazils
El Niño does not hit Brazil in a single way. In the South it brings more rain and a bigger harvest; in Mato Grosso it cuts the rains short and lowers yields; in the North and Northeast it reduces rainfall for months. Three regions, three different management plans.
More rain, bigger harvest
Soybean · Corn · Rice · Wheat
0.00 M t
of soybean projected in Rio Grande do Sul for 2026/27, against 18.34 M t last cycle (Emater/RS)
Here El Niño adds: projected yield rises from 2,735 to 3,183 kg/ha, 16.4% higher, on slightly less area. The risk is not the harvest, it is management: waterlogged soils, shorter application windows and higher disease pressure.
Rains that stop too early
Soybean · Safrinha corn · Cotton
0 M ha
of soybean projected in Mato Grosso, Brazil's largest producer (IMEA)
IMEA projects 5.4% lower yield and a harvest close to 49 M t. According to the institute, in El Niño years rainfall stops prematurely in the central region and the rain window shortens, squeezing safrinha corn planting. IMEA itself notes the problems will be concentrated, not widespread.
Less rain for months
Soybean · Corn · Coffee · Sugarcane
0 months
of reduced rainfall in the North Region, from June to March (INPE, INMET, FUNCEME and CENSIPAM Technical Note)
The same note expects less rain in the northern Northeast between April and June, and drier spring conditions in Goiás, Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro and Bahia. In 2015, an El Niño year, drought raised fire risk on farmland in the eastern and southern Amazon.
The national picture
Conab projects a record soybean harvest of 181.64 M t for 2026/27, but with just 0.7% growth. Area rises 1.4%, the smallest percentage gain in 20 years, and yield would fall for two reasons: the high 2025/26 comparison base and El Niño climate risk.
Sources: Conab (Sep 15, 2026) · IMEA via Reuters (Sep 11, 2026) · Emater/RS (Sep 2026) · El Niño 2026 Technical Note by INPE, INMET, FUNCEME and CENSIPAM (Apr 2026)
Where Haddak fits
Haddak acts on the plant's response to stress, not on the climatic cause. Its polyphenols and glycine betaine protect crop metabolism when conditions turn adverse — whether from a heat spike during a Matopiba dry spell or high temperatures between rains in the South.
What it does not do: Haddak does not drain a saturated soil or replace disease management. In the South the main lever is still soil structure and root activity; Haddak supports by protecting the plant from the thermal component.
Haddak Plus®: targeted biostimulation for abiotic stress
Developed with PFenergy® technology, Haddak Plus® activates the plant's natural defense mechanisms against extreme climate conditions. It reduces damage from drought, heat, and excess humidity while maintaining crop yield.
- Activates heat-shock protein (HSP) production for greater heat tolerance
- Reduces water loss through transpiration under drought conditions
- Improves the efficiency of the plant's available water use
- Compatible with any fertilization and nutrition program
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Is your region at risk?
Our specialists can guide you on El Niño's specific impact on your crops and how to effectively apply Haddak Plus® in your agronomic program.