11,000 Lanao del Sur farmers lose crops to drought

LANAO DEL SUR, Philippines — Provincial officials are scrambling to address the needs of more than 11,000 farmers in Lanao del Sur who have lost crops to a drought there.

Vice Gov. Mamintal Adiong, Jr. on Wednesday said the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council met this week on measures to cushion the impact of the continuing drought.

The PDRRMC meeting was attended by provincial officials of the Environment, Agriculture, Social Welfare and Health ministries of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Adiong said representatives from the Red Cross and the World Health Program also joined the conference, held at the provincial capitol in Marawi City.  

The provincial government and Agriculture officials have found that 11,627 farmers now lack food in their homes and money for their families because of the dry spell that began in February.

More than 5,000 hectares of rice and corn farms in Lanao del Sur have been lost since then.

Adiong said PDRRMC members also reported that the water level in Lake Lanao has receded dramatically in recent weeks. The lake is important culturally and for food security and its downstream flow powers hydropower plants that supply about three-fourths of Mindanao's daily power needs.

Lanao del Sur has not fully recovered yet from the devastation caused by the siege of Marawi City from May to October 2017. Hundreds died and more than 300,000 were displaced by fighting between government forces and Islamic State-linked terrorists.