Damage to agriculture of the effects of El Niño phenomenon has reached P9.5 billion as of May 16, according to the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Operations Center.
The DA attached agency in its advisory said the weather phenomenon has affected 163,694 hectares (ha) of land tended by 175,063 farmers in Cordillera Administrative Region, Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Central Mindanao, Davao and Soccsksargen.
Total volume loss is pegged at 426,798 metric tons (MT): 185,561 MT of rice worth P4.6 billion; 180,807 MT of corn, P3.17 billion; 48,949 MT of high value crops, P1.65 billion; P57.72 million lost to fisherfolk; 2,403 heads of livestock and poultry, P10.47 million; and 147 MT of cassava, P3.42 million.
The DA said it has so far provided P8.59 billion worth of assistance to affected farmers through the Rice Farmers Financial Assistance nationwide.
The biggest assistance valued at P658.22 million came in the form of production support including inputs, fertilizers, planting materials, pumps and engines, hose, drugs and biologics provided by the agency’s regional field offices.
The Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. also indemnified farmers with a total amount of P176.52 million.
