El Niño damage to PH agriculture up to P5B–
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Tue, 02 Apr 2019 09:45:13 +0000
THE damage and losses to agriculture caused by El Niño increased to P5.05 billion, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Tuesday.
Quoting from a report by the Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Operation Center (DA-DRRMOC), the DA said the increased production losses may be attributed to 276,568 metric tons (MT) of damaged crops on 177,743 hectares of agricultural areas.
A total of 164,672 farmers and fisherfolk were affected by the El Niño, the report said.
Rice production losses were estimated at P2.69 billion, affecting 125,590 MT of crops on 111,851 hectares of agricultural land. The total number of rice farmers affected in 37 provinces was 108,845.
Losses from corn production increased to P2.36 billion, or 150,978 MT over 65,892 hectares of land and affecting 55,827 farmers in 17 provinces.
The DA-DRRMOC said on Sunday that the El Niño caused P4.35 billion in damages to the farm sector, an increase from the P1.33 billion recorded last March 19.
The state weather bureau Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) reported that El Niño has peaked and would weaken in the next months. EIREENE JAIREE GOMEZ
The post El Niño damage to PH agriculture up to P5B– appeared first on The Manila Times Online.