DA Luzon Cluster A meets to finalize El Nino strategies
FILE PHOTO: A farmer in Gerona, Tarlac. 11 December 2023. | 📷 King Rodriguez
Daily TribuneFILE PHOTO: A farmer in Gerona, Tarlac. 11 December 2023. | 📷 King Rodriguez
The Department of Agriculture on Thursday announced that its officials from Regions 1,2,3 and CAR met on 20 December, to finalize strategies to ensure that food production would not greatly suffer with the ongoing El Nino, which would intensify by February to April 2024.
Undersecretary for Rice Industry Development Leocadio S. Sebastian also asked the National Irrigation Administration in these regions to program more rationally the release of water, deploy water pumps directly to farmers that could be affected by the drought, and propagate to clustered irrigators associations the alternate wet and dry system to ensure that water supply reaches as many farmers as possible and to prevent palay from being soaked.
He cited that water utilization must be done prudently not only to stretch supply but also in keeping with carbon reduction efforts that are being practiced globally.
He also advised the RFO heads and those of NIA to request for budget for cloud seeding when there are clouds to be seeded to shore up the water levels in irrigation dams and canals.
Sebastian also asked for more updated data on the water delivery efficiency of NIA and if the vulnerable areas to the ongoing El Nino would be the same, if not more, than previous episodes.
He asked for closer convergence, coordination, and cooperation among the RFOs, NIA, the Philippine Rice Research Institute, and other DA agencies and to work closely with private sector suppliers of inputs and technology to ensure faster modernization of the sector.
Sebastian also asked the RFOs to prioritize their support to clustered IAs for the dry season crop.
He also briefed the attendees that the intervention monitoring cards which can double up as farmers' identity and digital payments for loans they would avail from creditors and service providers are now being distributed to IAs, coops, and other farm organizations registered with the Registry System for basic sectors in agriculture.
The IMC cards will empower farmers with their choice of input suppliers, technology providers, and financing.