Agri losses from El Niño breach P8.5B across PH

MANILA, Philippines — Agricultural damage throughout the country due to the El Niño phenomenon has climbed to P8.57 billion, a 24.7-percent increase from the P6.87 billion recorded in September.

According to the Oct. 21 bulletin of the Department of Agriculture (DA), the dry spell affected the livelihood of 288,058 farmers in different regions across the country.

The estimate covered crop damage in the Cordillera, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan) and Bicol regions in Luzon; Western Visayas, Negros Island, Central Visayas and Eastern Visayas regions in the Visayas; and Zamboanga Peninsula, Davao, Soccsksargen (South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani, General Santos) and Caraga regions in Mindanao.

READ: El Niño to be ‘very strong,’ last until February, UN warns

Prolonged dry spell wiped out 220,307 metric tons of farm produce from 291,154 hectares of land. Collectively, corn and rice accounted for more than 90 percent of reported losses.

The DA said losses in corn were P5 billion, while damage to rice amounted to P2.95 billion.

Losses were also recorded in high-value crops at P571.28 million, livestock and poultry P37.75 million, and cassava P5 million.

READ: El Niño could be strongest in decades, UN warns

During a Senate hearing on the DA’s budget on Wednesday, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the country’s farm sector might sustain about P20 billion in losses due to El Niño, with production losses hitting up to a million metric tons.

Tiu Laurel had said the prolonged drought could affect the livelihood of 2.8 million farmers and fisherfolk nationwide and, in the worst case, the number could increase to 4.6 million.

The DA’s projected losses could surpass the P15.91 billion in damage from the strong El Niño episode from June 2023 to March 2024.

Food security

To manage food supply, the DA and other agencies are implementing a food security framework as part of the government’s response to El Niño.

At a briefing on Thursday, Ana Liza Solis, climate monitoring and prediction chief of the state weather bureau, said the framework would maximize farm production in areas not severely hit by El Niño and increase livelihood opportunities for farmers.

The DA has set aside P10.81 billion in production support through its regional offices while the state-run Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. will provide P569.95 million worth of indemnification to 68,980 affected farmers.

In Bacolod City, Marion Tagle, disaster risk reduction and management chief of the DA in Negros Island Region, said rice production bore the brunt of the dry spell, with estimated losses reaching P35.9 million across 1,338 ha of farmland.

Tagle noted that nearly 42 ha had been destroyed with no chance of recovery.

The agricultural damage is heavily concentrated in rain-fed or rain-dependent areas, while irrigated rice fields have reported no losses so far, he said. —WITH A REPORT FROM CARLA P. GOMEZ