New Tool Presented to Assess the Impact of El Niño on Crops

INTA and CONICET presented AgroENSO, a free interactive web application that analyzes 35 years of historical information to estimate the territorial effects of El Niño-Southern Oscillation phases on maize, wheat, barley, sunflower, first-crop soybean, and second-crop soybean yields in Argentina. The platform combines climate information with official yield data, corrects trends associated with technological and management improvements, and supports comparisons between crop seasons and scenario assessment for the 2026/27 season. At the national level, the climate signal is concentrated mainly in maize and soybean. For maize, 33 percent of agricultural departments show a significant climate signal; Entre Ríos records an average deviation of 17.1 percent during El Niño phases, with values of 24 percent in Villaguay and 28 percent in Tala. National maize yields exceeded their average in 10 of the 12 El Niño seasons analyzed, compared with only two of the 14 La Niña seasons. The tool allows these historical signals to be combined with information on available soil water, groundwater dynamics, and field position to support planting, logistics, and climate-risk management decisions.