PhilRice crafts risk maps to mitigate El Niño impact

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), the research and development arm of Department of Agriculture, is designing risk maps to mitigate the impact of the looming El Niño phenomenon.

PhilRice’s maps would detail which areas would possibly be hit again, thereby determining the planting calendar that could help minimize the adverse effect of the dry spell.

It would also map out all areas of the country that could be hit by the dry climate to guide local governments and regional field offices on the kind of interventions that would be needed in areas to be affected by El Niño.

To further aid farmers, PhilRice has been sending out to farm communities around the country its “Be Water Smart” magazine containing information of varieties and ways to optimize water use to mitigate the impact of El Niño.

PhilRice magazine’s ‘Be Water Smart” issue has put together and simplified information based on research and best practices to mitigate the effects of El Niño, PhilRice deputy director for development Karen Barroga said.

The magazine also contains previous experiences of farmers, particularly on how they coped with calamities and adverse weather conditions, thereby enriching the knowledge of other farmers on what to expect and how to cope with El Nino.

In addition, it has information on seed varieties that are heat or drought tolerant and under what soil conditions they can be planted, including the experience of Vietnam in using climate-smart maps to address its drought problem.

Barroga said the agency has also been disseminating satellite-based data of rice area, production and yield to local government units and DA regional field offices so that they can be adequately guided on how to adjust their cropping calendars and on what interventions to give.

These data were weather patterns obtained and analyzed by the Philippine Rice Information System (PRISm) team.

Findings are given to to LGUs and their extension workers and DA regional field officers so they can adequately guide farmers on seed varieties to plant based on available water supply.

PRISm is the first rice monitoring system in Southeast Asia that uses satellite imagery and information and communication technology, crop modeling and smart phones.

It has a network of focal persons nationwide who are tasked to validate satellite data and help disseminate these to policy and decision makers, who in turn transmit them to farmers either through extension workers or using call/text digital technology.

Through PRISm, the extent of standing crops and the different crop stages all over the country can also be known. Historical data of PRISM can be analyzed in determining how and when to adjust the planting calendar.

These are the data that inform us how to adjust the schedule of planting so that the crops would not be hit by typhoons, Barroga said.