Figure 1. Annual Rainfall (black, in mm) and grain production (blue, in percent of normal yield) in two dry El Niño years in the Nordeste, when seasonal precipitation dropped, as is typical, from an expected 1000 mm to 600-700 mm. In 1987, at the left, no El Niño-related action was taken, and grain production fell to less than 45 percent of the normal amount. Advance prediction of the 1992 El Niño, on the right, allowed drought resistant crops to be planted, and grain production dropped only to about 70 percent of the normal, wet-year harvest.