Philippines: El Niño damage to agriculture climbs to P151.3 million

Published 2024년 2월 8일

Tridge summary

The ongoing El Niño weather phenomenon has caused an estimated P151.3 million in damages to the Philippine agriculture sector, primarily affecting rice and corn crops, according to the Department of Agriculture. This is a significant increase from the P109.4 million reported at the end of January. Approximately 3,923 farmers in Western Visayas and the Zamboanga Peninsula have been impacted. The department has responded by spending P1 million on assistance efforts, including distributing vegetable seeds and procuring planting materials for crops that require less water.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

The Philippine agriculture sector has sustained P151.3 million worth of damage and losses on the back of the ongoing El Niño, even as the country has yet to experience the peak of the dry spell. The latest estimate released by the Department of Agriculture (DA) compares with the P109.4 million of losses at the end of January, covering 6,618 metric tons of palay (unmilled rice) and corn in some 3,291 hectares. The estimates said there were some 3,923 farmers in Western Visayas and the Zamboanga Peninsula affected. Further details were not immediately available. “Most of the damage and losses were incurred on rice and corn that are on their reproductive stage,” the bulletin was cited as saying in a DA statement released Wednesday. The state weather bureau PAGASA officially announced the start of El Niño in July 2023, with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) expecting this to last until at least April 2024, and the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) projecting a ...

Source: Gmanetwork