The Antique province in Western Visayas has now recorded P33.7 million worth of damage to rice and corn due to the ongoing strong El Niño forecasted to prevail until this February.

According to the Patnongon Municipal Agriculture Office, they monitored last month the rice damages valued at P31 million from 424.3 hectares of farmlands and P2.7 million worth of injury from 118.25 hectares of corn plantations.

Patnogon MAO officer Bernardita Salvador attributed the effects to insufficient water in irrigation.

“There is no more source of water with the rivers and deep wells drying up. Crops had been damaged,” said Salvador, adding that the Igpayo and Sibalom rivers, which provided water for their irrigation, no longer provide their farms with enough water.

She also said that their office received information about the rice black bug or rice weevil pest infestation in Igbobon and Amparo farmlands, where approximately 2.5 hectares are suspected to be affected.

Meantime, the provincial government of Iloilo said that it is prepared to extend assistance to El Niño-affected farmers as Governor Arthur Defensor said that they are ready to provide farmers with inputs sourced from their disaster funds and increase their small-scale irrigation projects.

Instead of providing cash aid, the official said that the LGU will assist the affected farmers in securing insurance “so that when they are hit, they get the benefit of the insurance policy of the government, which is bigger.”

The province’s measures are included in the agriculture and fisheries extension program, which encompasses the Agriculture and Fisheries Mitigation Programs and Rehabilitation Plan 2023-2024.

It allocated P15 million for Sigurado, which stands for Sustainable Insurance from the Government for Upscaling and Revitalizing the Agri-fishery Development and Opportunities and will be implemented this year to assist those farmers not enrolled with the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation.

In other developments, Senator Christopher “Bong” Go has stressed the urgency of preparing and implementing immediate and long-term strategies to mitigate the adverse effects of El Niño.

The lawmaker has called on the Department of Agriculture led by Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. to take proactive measures, especially in supporting small-scale farmers who are among the hardest hit by climatic irregularities.

He added there is a need to keep farmers — the backbone of the nation’s food supply — in a stable and productive state as he pointed out the precarious situation of the farmers who live a hand-to-mouth existence, advocating for substantial government support and intervention to uplift their situations.