Despite the continuous damage to crops caused by El Niño, the Department of Agriculture assured the public that the Philippines has enough rice stocks to supply the local demands.

DA spokesperson Asec. Arnel de Mesa said in a news forum over the weekend that compared to the severe El Niño of 1997 to 1998, the damage to agriculture this year is ‘not that severe.’

“If we also compare our damages this year, compared to the very strong episodes of El Niño, especially in 1997-1998, it was not that severe, but the current El Niño is, as per PAGASA's report, starting to wane, but that is the most, as it were, destructive phase of El Niño when you are going there in the so-called decaying period of El Niño,” he said, adding that the government is also preparing for the La Niña in the second half of the year.

Moreover, De Mesa also said that there is no problem with the current rice stock the country has, citing the Bureau of Plant Industry’s report of the arrival of over 600,000 imported rice in the first two months of the year.

“On average, that's about 300,000 metric tons, which is at par with what we expected, which is 300,000 metric tons per month of imported rice,” said the DA official.

He added: “Our production last year was 20.06 million metric tons plus our imports, and we are expecting our rice harvest to peak, starting now, by March and April. So in terms of supply, we have no problem, we have very healthy stocks and inventory of rice for this year.”

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council reported on Thursday that the agriculture sector has now suffered damage and losses estimated at P941,730,702.01.

The Western Visayas was the most affected area, registering a production loss amounting to P564,056,192.48. It also has the most agricultural workers affected, as well as the biggest crop area hit. It tallied 11,662 farmers and fishermen affected, and 1,055.45 hectares of land affected.

Mimaropa ranks second as the most El Niño-hit area, with an estimated P319,755,957.97 cost of damage, followed by Calabarzon with P2,750,947.56.

Zamboanga Peninsula, on the other hand, incurred a P717,527 value loss, and the Ilocos Region had a P54,450,077 value loss.

De Mesa said that the majority of the damaged crops by the drought came from rainfed farms, explaining that those that are damaged in irrigated farms are those at the ends called the tail end of the irrigation system, which he said has been difficult to reach.

“Most of the reported damages are actually rain-fed areas because there were those who planted the first plants when there was still rain, and then eventually they didn't follow through, so they dried up a lot. We went to Bulalacao in Mindoro, they planted in November, and in December until now, there has been almost no rain,” he said.

He added that the level of the dam, compared to earlier El Niño episodes, exhibited a ‘not that big’ drop in water level.

“The level of water accumulated during the rainy season is high, almost at its high water level, so it accumulated a lot. And when we looked, we also visited Central Luzon; our standing crop of rice is good, except for those in the raid-fed areas.”

Moreover, the DA spokesperson said construction of new irrigation systems is being planned.

“Many of our major dams are really old, but there will be new arrivals. For example, the Jalaur Irrigation Project in Iloilo, this is big, funded by the Korean government, and we want to improve it too – that's what the NIA is doing, improve our dam. But apart from the dam, we also need to improve our canal systems,” said De Mesa.

The DA said that financial, credit, and insurance aid, including fuel subsidies, are among the assistance that will be given to the El Niño-affected farmers and fishermen.