The Department of Agriculture has committed financial support and assistance under the government’s Rice Farmer Financial Assistance program to Albay local government units amid the devastation of farm crops caused by the El Nino dry spell.

Polangui Mayor Raymond Adrian Salceda, who heads the League of Municipalities of the Philippines-Albay Chapter, said he had recently coordinated with DA Secretary Francisco Tiu-Laurel and was assured of RFFA assistance as mandated by the Rice Tariffication Law.

The El Niño phenomenon has already ravaged more than 425 hectares of rice lands in the towns of Polangui, Libon, Oas and Pioduran, all in the third district of Albay, Salceda reported on Wednesday.

Aside from the RFFA financial support, Salceda said he was also promised that the National Irrigation Administration would install surface pumps near water sources to augment the supply for rice farms, referred to as Pump Irrigation from Open Sources.

He said his office is coordinating with the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation to fast-track assistance for the affected farmers.

“We will likewise see to it that Albay farmers will have their share of the certified and hybrid palay seeds and fertilizers which will be distributed by the DA in Bicol to help mitigate the effects of the calamity,” Salceda said.

DA officials in Bicol previously announced they will distribute open pollinated corn flint, glutinous and hybrid corn and genetically modified seeds and fertilizers to corn farmers, lowland vegetable seeds including legumes, such as mungbean and flower inducers.