Just a week after logging P717,000 in agricultural damage due to the ongoing severe El Niño, the agriculture sector has suffered losses of more than P109 million, the Department of Agriculture reported.

Based on assessments by DA Regional Field Offices in Western Visayas and the Zamboanga Peninsula, damage and losses have amounted to P109.44 million, affecting 2,602 farmers, with output loss of 4,738 metric tons on 2,177 hectares of rice lands where most of the damage affected rice in the reproductive stage.

Iloilo recorded the highest value loss, estimated at between P100,000 and P200,000, followed by Zamboanga del Norte between P1,000 and P10,000.

The data, however, is subject to validation, the DA said.

The department has instituted interventions such as regular monitoring of weather conditions and the actual ground situation, continuous dissemination of advisories and
agro-meteorological information through government agriculturists and report officers on Facebook and Messenger, and disseminating information on proper crop management, including the adjustment of planting schedules and optimizing fertilizer use. 

Most global climate models suggest that El Niño will “likely persist” until May, with a transition to a cooling neutral El Niño–Southern Oscillation in June.