(UPDATE) DAMAGE to agriculture brought about by El Niño surged to P1.05 billion, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said on Wednesday.
It said that El Niño had so far affected 17,718 hectares (ha) of farmlands, equivalent to 32,844 metric tons (MT) of production volume.
Total crop loss was broken down as follows: Western Visayas recorded the biggest crop area affected by the dry spell at 13,363 ha, equivalent to P678.7 million, followed by Mimaropa with 3,116 ha, valued at P319.7 million.
The dry spell hit 1,026 ha of farmlands in the Ilocos Region, 189.56 ha in Calabarzon, and 22.2 ha in the Zamboanga Peninsula.
To date, only the local government of Bulalacao in Oriental Mindoro has declared a state of calamity due to the long dry spell.
In Negros Occidental, six barangay — Cabadiangan, Nabalian, Carabalan, Su-ay, To-oy, and Buenavista in Himamaylan town have been experiencing a shortage in drinking and irrigation water since December 2023.
Also, Zamboanga City implemented a water rationing scheme in its west coast and central areas amid limited water supply.
Rivers and fields in the town have dried up, affecting water supply and crops, according to the municipal government.
Vulnerable rice lands
The Department of Agriculture said that 275,000 hectares of rice fields are expected to be vulnerable to the impact of El Niño. This is equivalent to an estimated yield of 1.1 million MT of palay (unmilled rice) or rice stocks good for 20 days.
The Philippines has 4.8 million ha of land dedicated to cultivating palay, and last year, palay production reached 20.06 million MT, the highest harvest of the staple.
To mitigate the adverse impact of the El Niño phenomenon, specifically on Mindoro Island, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. urged the local government units across the region to declare a state of calamity officially.
According to the DA, such a declaration "would extend comprehensive assistance to affected communities, including financial aid, agricultural inputs like crop seeds, and livestock."
Assistance
In terms of assistance, the department said that up to P25,000 in interest-free loans for three years to eligible farmers and fisher folk are available through the Survival and Recovery (SURE) aid program.
Additionally, the government is ready to provide farm inputs through the Quick Response Fund, while the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. is ready to issue insurance claims of up to P25,000 for registered agricultural workers.
The El Niño phenomenon is characterized by the abnormal warming of sea surface temperature in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, leading to below-normal rainfall.
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