Bad weather to worsen NCotabato crop problem

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines — Agriculture officials on Thursday said the P69-million worth of crops damaged by the dry spell in the province could increase three-fold if unfavorable weather will continue in the next 30 days.

"The crops damaged by the drought can no longer be recovered. Rice and corn fields have been scorched by the drought since last month," said North Cotabato provincial agriculturist Eliseo Mangliwan.

Mangliwan said worst affected by the drought are rice, corn and banana farms scattered in 17 towns in the province and in the barangays in Kidapawan City, the provincial capital.

More than hundred hectares of rice and corn farms in the province and in nearby Maguindanao, a component area of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, have also been ravaged by grass fires in the past two weeks.

Makmod Mending Jr., ARMM's agriculture secretary, said their technicians are now validating the extent of the damage to agriculture the three-week drought had caused in Maguindanao.

"What is saddening is that many of the farmers in the province are still in evacuation centers due to security problems that affected their barangays," Mending said.

Reports collated from different North Cotabato municipalities indicated that the worst hit by the drought are the towns of Alamada and Banisilin, which are North Cotabato’s top corn-producing areas.

"These are 'rain fed farms' located in areas without irrigation facilities," Mangliwan said.

Mangliwan said North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza ordered the office of the provincial agriculturist on Thursday to formulate action plans meant to mitigate the impact of the drought to the farming communities in the province.