The Department of Agriculture said on Thursday that it will extend its assistance to farmers from Western Visayas and the Zamboanga Peninsula who suffered damage and losses on their crops caused by the ongoing El Niño phenomenon.

To help with the affected farmers’ recovery, the DA will implement more than P1 million worth of aid, which includes the provision of vegetable seeds in Western Visayas and the acquisition of planting materials for high-value crops that require less water on the Zamboanga Peninsula.

Cloud seeding operations, pest control management, and promotion of wider use of drought-resistance crop varieties to help regions experiencing water shortages are also included in the agency’s El Niño interventions.

Based on DA Disaster Risk Reduction and Management's latest El Niño bulletin, farms in Western Visayas and the Zamboanga Peninsula have now suffered damage and losses amounting to P151.3 million, with the 3,923 farmers affected, and the majority of damage and losses incurred on rice and corn were in the reproductive stage.

“Estimates of possible production losses are 6,618 metric tons of palay and corn, while 3,291 hectares are affected by the dry spell,” noted the agency.

The National Irrigation Authority earlier said that the government is already implementing alternative wetting and drying technology to boost around 20 to 30 percent of their irrigation systems in Central Luzon.

NIA Administrator Engr. Eduardo Guillen added that farmlands that aren't able to be reached by their tail-end services have already planted high-yielding varieties of rice, noting that the domestic harvest of rice is most likely not to decline amid the El Niño threat.

“Rice prefers sunny weather. Our yield is higher when it's sunny,” he said in an interview.

According to the DA, to further secure additional assistance, including cash aid, they plan on linking affected farmers to the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Department of Labor and Employment.

###