DA ready for El Niño impact
Credit to Author: EIREENE JAIREE GOMEZ| Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2019 16:17:02 +0000
Necessary measures are in place to protect the farm sector, particularly the livelihood of drought-affect farmers against the impending El Niño event in the country, the Department of Agriculture (DA)said on Thursday.
In a press conference, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said they had formulated preparatory steps as early as last year against the probable impact of drought, which could hit the Philippines in the coming months.
“As early as last year, when the first reports of an impending El Niño was released, we actually already formed the Task Force El Niño and we are prepared. In fact, we’re thankful that El Niño will hit us just as the harvest season is almost over and that saves a lot of our production,” Piñol said.
“The period of the El Nino could be used by the NIA (National Irrigation Administration) to repair their canals and maintain their systems so that at least when El Nino ends, everybody would be ready to plant rice again,” he added.
El Niño refers to above-average sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean and is associated with below normal rainfall. El Niño usually lasts for eight to 12 months and occurs every 2 to 7 years.
In its latest report, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said a weak El Niño condition was already present in the tropical Pacific, which prompted the state weather bureau to upgrade its El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) alert system.
Piñol said the interventions being readied by the DA included the delivery of seeds, establishment of small water-impounding systems and solar-powered irrigation systems to assist farmers during the drought period.
One of the DA’s flagship programs, solar-powered irrigation systems, can pump from 400 to 1,000 gallons of water a day for up to 150 hectares of rice farm. Of the total 3.9 million hectares of rice farms, only 1.2-million hectares are effectively irrigated where farmers could harvest twice a year.
Also, the DA readied insurance payments for crop damage, emergency rice supplies and Survival and Recovery (SURE) loans of up to P25,000 (no-collateral, no-interest and payable in 3 years) for those affected.
“We’re not too worried. We are not going to see a Kidapawan City rally where farmers were asking for rice here,” Piñol assured, referring to the killing of two hungry farmers and the wounding of several others when they demanded food.
Pagasa said near-normal rainfall conditions in most parts of northern Luzon and Mindanao were expected by May while most parts of Visayas would have below normal rainfall.
In late 2015 to June 2016, the country was hit by one of the most severe El Niño, which resulted to very low level of production of staple crops such as rice.
The post DA ready for El Niño impact appeared first on The Manila Times Online.