ARMM, Soccsksargen farmers get seeds, fertilizers

MANILA, Philippines - The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has provided P23.7 million worth of rice, corn and vegetable seeds as well as fertilizers to farmers hit by El Niño in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and Soccsksargen.

The farm inputs will benefit 5,500 farming households.

“These will allow them to restart their livelihood activities and grow food for household consumption,” Jose Luis Fernandez, FAO Philippine representative, said.

Over 100,000 hectares of farmlands in Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao suffered production losses from February 2015 to July this year due to the dry spell.

FAO is conducting training on drought management and improved crop production to affected farmers.

In June, FAO provided over $2 million in assistance and training on farm-level vulnerability assessment as well as risk reduction planning to El Niño-hit farmers.

FAO has assisted 54,300 farming households in Luzon and Mindanao whose livelihoods were affected by the drought and typhoons since last year.

Losses in agriculture due to El Niño reached P13 billion across the country with 1.2 million metric tons of crops damaged.