DA steps up measures to mitigate La Niña impact on palay production

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Agriculture (DA) is stepping up the implementation of measures to mitigate the impact of the La Niña weather phenomenon on the farm sector in the second half of 2010 to ensure that its palay production program remains on track this year.

Agriculture Secretary Bernie Fondevilla said the preparations for La Niña include the repair and rehabilitation of irrigation systems and farm-to-market roads, as well as early positioning of seeds for farmers for their wet or main crop.

La Niña is the opposite of El Niño. While the El Niño weather pattern results in drought, La Niña is expected to bring heavier rainfall.

But Fondevilla said he is still confident that even with the drought damage from El Niño and the possible effect from La Niña this year, the agriculture sector would likely manage to expand 2.5 percent this year — barring any storm of “Ondoy-like” proportions.

Tropical storm Ondoy, which struck mostly Metro Manila and Central Luzon in September last year, brought a month’s worth of rain in just six hours, causing massive floods and billions of pesos worth of property damages and crop losses, particularly on the palay and corn subsectors.

 “For La Niña, among the preparations are the rehabilitation work on irrigation and farm-to-market roads,” Fondevilla said. “After that, what’s important is the pre-positioning of seeds for our farmers because the rains have already started to come, and some of them are already preparing to plant.”

Fondevilla said the DA’s Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) Rice Program’s proposed budget of P12.3 billion would allow the implementation of its program, including La Niña mitigation measures.

He said the budget is on top of what would be spent in the event that calamities strike the farm sector in the remaining months of the year.

 “Our GMA Rice Program coordinator is confident that barring any disaster of Ondoy-like proportions, we will be able to bounce back in the second semester,” Fondevilla said. Dr. Frisco Malabanan is the national coordinator of the GMA Rice Program.