El Niño crop damage nears P11 billion

MANILA, Philippines – The amount of crop damage due to the dry spell has risen to close to P11 billion, latest data from the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) showed.

In a situation report dated April 21, NDCC executive officer Glenn Rabonza said the estimated cost of production loss due to the El Niño phenomenon has reached P10.997 billion.

Rabonza said the dry spell has affected a total of 772,538 hectares of agricultural lands and destroyed 776,005 metric tons of rice, corn and high-value crops.

The damage has affected the livelihood of 247,719 families nationwide, the NDCC said.

Damage was recorded in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Ilocos region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Bicol region, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, Davao, and Socsksargen.

The latest crop damage was reported in Zamboanga City, where a total of 2,000 hectares of banana, 100 hectares of mango and 150 hectares of durian farms were destroyed.

To mitigate the effects of the dry spell, the NDCC said it is continuously meeting with other state agencies to determine what measures or projects should be implemented.

The Department of Agriculture has also encouraged small fishermen to engage in mariculture farming or cultivation of marine organisms for food as it is cheaper, more productive and sustainable.

The NDCC said the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and the Land Bank of the Philippines have agreed to promote mariculture to help fishermen minimize production losses.

The government has also released 3,200 sacks of rice to affected areas.

The NDCC said the agriculture department, through the Bureau of Soil and Water Management, is continuously implementing cloud-seeding operations to save the remaining standing crops.

Rabonza said regional interventions such as provision of seedlings and water pumps, giving of fuel subsidies to farmers, and the implementation of a rotational irrigation system are still in place.

Economic managers previously said the dry spell would only have a limited impact on economic growth, which is expected to range from 2.6 percent to 3.6 percent this year.

They said the impact would be offset by sustained remittance inflows, robust consumption, the easing of the global downturn, and strong export growth.

The El Niño has prompted the government to declare a state of calamity in the entire island of Mindanao and in some areas of Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Bicol, CAR, Western Visayas, Central Visayas and Socsksargen.

A declaration of a state of calamity would allow the local governments to use their respective calamity funds.