AGRICULTURAL damage caused by El Niño has surged to P3.9 billion with potential production losses covering 66,065 hectares, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Friday.

The DA's Risk and Reduction Management Office said the weather pattern, which brings dry spells and droughts, had affected 73,713 farmers and fisherfolk in 11 regions. Production losses were estimated to have hit 162,793 metric tons (MT).

Over half, or 98,243 MT, comprised rice or some 1.07 percent of the targeted production of 9,218,358.28 MT this year, it added. Corn losses accounted for 40,195 MT and 24,102 MT involved high-value crops.

These covered farms in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Davao, and Soccsksargen.

The DA said that it had already distributed some P1.09 billion in interventions to help farmers and fishers affected by El Niño, which it expects to weaken by the end of this month.

Cloud seeding operations are also being conducted in cooperation with the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration and the Philippine Air Force, it said.

These have had an overall success rate of 90 percent, the department claimed, resulting in light to moderate rains over the municipalities of Cabagan, Sta. Maria, San Pablo and Tumauini in Isabela province; Enrile, Iguig, Peñablanca and Tuguegarao in Cagayan province; and Nagtipunan in Quirino province.