Crop damage due to El Niño exceeds P10 billion

MANILA, Philippines - Damage to crops due to El Niño has exceeded P10 billion, prompting a government reassessment of its economic target for this year.

In a situation report released yesterday, National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) executive officer Glenn Rabonza said losses due to the severe dry spell totaled P10.41 billion as of April 6 or higher than the P9.58 billion reported by the NDCC to the Cabinet last Tuesday.

Rabonza said the dry spell has affected a total of 768,962 hectares of agricultural lands and destroyed 733,342.36 metric tons of rice, corn and high-value crops.

The damage has hurt the livelihood of more than 245,000 families nationwide, the NDCC said.

Hardest hit by the dry spell were the Cordillera Administrative Region, Ilocos region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Bicol region, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, Davao, and SOCCSKSARGEN.

Meanwhile, National Economic and Development Authority director general Augusto Santos said economic managers met yesterday to assess the impact of the crop damage on the country’s economic prospects.

It was not yet clear as of press time what transpired during the meeting.

Officials had thought the El Niño would only have minimal impact on economic growth, pegged at 2.6 percent to 3.6 percent this year.

They pointed out that the impact could be offset by robust consumption and strong exports.

The pronouncement, however, was made before the release of the latest NDCC figures.

To address the impact of the dry spell, NDCC said it has facilitated the release of 3,200 sacks of rice to the provincial disaster councils in affected areas.

The NDCC said the Agriculture department, through the Bureau of Soil and Water Management, has started cloud seeding operations in various regions since February to save the surviving crops.

Rabonza said regional interventions such as the release of additional budget for affected sectors, provision of seedlings and water pumps, giving of fuel subsidies to farmers and the implementation of a rotational irrigation system are also in place.

The Department of Agriculture has said that crop damage can reach as high as P11 billion.

NDCC also reported that a state of calamity has been declared in various areas in seven regions. Placed under a state of calamity were Santo Tomas, Pangasinan; Isabela, Cagayan, Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya and the municipality of Cabatuan, Isabela in Cagayan Valley; the entire province of Albay; the municipality of Alfonso Lista, Ifugao in CAR; some parts of Negros Occidental in Western Visayas; Cebu City in Central Visayas; and parts of North Cotabato, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and General Santos City in SOCCSKSARGEN.

President Arroyo has also placed Mindanao under a state of calamity to address the power crisis caused by the dry spell.