The waves of the tsunami left little for the agriculture industry in those hardest-hit Asian countries.

Experts project the global industry will see few aftereffects compared to the drastic change for local farmers.

Because many of those areas are poor countries, small farmers are going to be hit the hardest, said Lorna Butler, professor in the agriculture experiment station.

“Businesses would be completely wiped out,” Butler said.

Fishing has been affected dramatically.

“The poor, or poorer farmers are just going to be devastated,” said Michael Duffy, professor of economics and extension economist.

“My gut feeling is that the damage is going to be more at the local level.”

Shu-Min Huang, professor and chairman of the anthropology department, said he expects there to be little direct impact on the global agriculture industry, but he voiced concern that local economies and ways of life could be drastically hurt.

Huang said the coastal area will be the most directly affected and that in all areas, rice patty fields crops will see drastic disruptions.

“Farmers depend on rice terracing for their crop growth,” he said.

He noted developed and developing countries in the area for providing financial assistance and personnel, but said that recovery will take years.

“It will take a lot of effort to rebuild the agriculture base,” he said.

“This is going to be a major economic disaster for the Indian Ocean area.”