Floods' impact on agriculture minimal, says Piñol

MANILA, Philippines — The floods that inundated parts of Northern Mindanao would not have much impact on the agricultural production in the region, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said in Wednesday.

Piñol said the effect of the floods caused by heavy rains was only limited to "one or two specific areas."

"I think it was just isolated, concentrated in one or two specific areas," the agriculture chief said at a press briefing at Malacañan.

"While of course, we're sad that this happened, it will not really make a dent – a huge dent on the agricultural production on the region considering that is less than a thousand hectares. We can easily recover because of the interventions," he added.

Despite the limited effect of the recent floods, Piñol said the recurrent flooding in the area is alarming.

"I am alarmed actually at the recurrent flooding in that area… If a flash flood hits an area, there's only one reason for that: there are no more trees in the mountain and that is the reason why the water level rose fast," the agriculture chief said.

"We are looking at deforestation and the unabated cutting down of trees in the mountains of Lanao del Norte, Misamis Occidental, and Misamis Oriental as the possible cause of these flash floods. So we are taking a look at the situation not only in the context of providing immediate intervention but also long-term solution," he added.

Citing reports from the agriculture department's office in Northern Mindanao, Piñol said 147 hectares of corn in Malaybalay City and 2.5 hectares of corn in Impasugong were damaged, all in Bukidnon.

He said 112 hectares of rice were damaged in Tudela while 630 hectares of rice and two hectares of vegetables were affected in Plaridel all in Misamis Occidental.

A total of 128 hectares of rice were also damaged in Oroquieta City.  Misamis Oriental and Lanao del Norte have yet to submit damage reports.

"The region is ready with interventions. We have 6,200 bags of rice seeds available and also vegetable seeds and corn seeds," Piñol said.