4.2. Climate and Agriculture

Food is the first and foremost need of humans. As a matter of fact, climate and vegetation are complementary to each other. Weather components – temperature, precipitation, humidity, wind etc. – play the most prominent role in the crop production. For instance, crops like coffee, bananas and sugar cane are very sensitive to frosts. Coconuts and pineapples need temperature above 21oC for their best growth. In hilly areas, the citrus and other sensitive crops are planted on the slopes exposed to the sun avoiding the valleys which are subject to winter frosts at night.