BAGUIO CITY – Some twenty four towns in the six Cordillera provinces that had been heavily impacted by the ongoing drought caused by the El Nino phenomenon recently got more than P31 million worth of government interventions from the agriculture department to mitigate the effects of the dry spell to the region’s agriculture industry.
Based on the data obtained from the Cordillera office of the agriculture department, some 35,824 metric tons of rice, corn and high value crops worth more than P653 million from the aforesaid identified vulnerable towns had been already affected by the prolonged dry spell.
Further, the corn commodity has been the most affected by the weather phenomenon followed by rice, with minimal effects on high-value crops.
For the rice commodity, Abra recorded one municipality to have sustained the effects of El Nino affecting 4.16 hectares of rice, Apayao recorded three municipalities affecting 477.53 hectares, Benguet recorded three municipalities affecting 22.32 hectares, Ifugao recorded five municipalities affecting 333.85 hectares, Kalinga recorded five municipalities affecting 1,304.05 hectares, while seven municipalities in Mountain Province were recorded to have been affected covering 184.43 hectares.
For the corn commodity, Ifugao recorded five municipalities affecting 3,739 hectares, Kalinga recorded five municipalities affecting 2,322 hectares, while Mountain Province recorded one municipality affecting 2,719 hectares.
Among the interventions distributed and are to be distributed by DA-CAR to the affected farmers are 4,492 units of HDPE hoses amounting to P10.4 million, 32 units of pumps and engine sets for rice areas amounting to P2.4 million, 12 units of open-source pumping sets for corn areas amounting to P1.8 million.
5 units of Solar powered irrigation sets for corn amounting to P13 million, 54 units of pumps and engine sets for high-value commercial crops amounting to P3.78 million, and 89,750 doses of drugs and biologics/vaccines for animals amounting to P359,000. were also provided by DA-CAR.
Since the reactivation of the Regional Inter-Agency Task Group (RIATG) El Nino in June last year, identification, site-validation identification, and assessment monitoring activities of vulnerable areas in CAR have been undertaken that served as a basis for the specific interventions provided and are to be provided to affected farmers.
Dataset consolidation and analysis of planting and harvesting, standing crops, damage and losses assessment report were undertaken, aside from an updating of the incorporated master list template of affected farmers for endorsement to DSWD, the distribution and delivery prioritization of 2024 INS projects for areas at risk of drought were among the actions undertaken by DA-CAR.
The regional office is currently looking at the quick response and the NDRRM fund through the rehabilitation and recovery plan to cater to more affected farmers upon finalization of reports. By Dexter A. See
