EL Niño and pest infestation destroyed a total of 565,752 metric tons (MT) valued at P8.02 billion in the first four months of the year, according to data from the Department of Agriculture (DA).
From January 1 to April 15, data from the DA showed that El Niño alone damaged 516,099 MT of crops valued at P6.35 billion. The DA said 183,201 farmers cultivating 194,494.48 hectares of land were affected by the prolonged dry spell.
The three regions that suffered the brunt of El Niño were Region 10 in Mindanao, which recorded losses amounting to P2.46 billion; Western Visayas or Region 6, P1.97 billion; and Region 12, P737.36 million. Meanwhile, DA data also showed that farm damage due to pest infestation has reached P1.67 billion as of April 15.
Farmers have been warned by the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) against the possible attack of rodents, stemborers, tungro and army worms in the second quarter of the year. Infestations of rice bug, defoliator, rice black bug and bacteria leaf blight may also occur occasionally, the agency added.
Since February 2015, farmers have already incurred losses totaling P9.78 billion due to El Niño.
Earlier, Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala said El Niño has already damaged 233,000 MT of paddy rice. Alcala said the volume is only a fourth of projected 975,000 MT of unmilled rice that would be damaged due to the dry spell.
The DA chief attributed this to the coordination between the farmers, irrigators and the government, as well as cloud-seeding operations in areas without irrigation and the use of hybrid-rice seeds.
For the whole of 2016, Alcala said unmilled-rice output would register flat growth, despite expectations that the weather phenomenon would cause minimal damage to the rice sector. Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that the Philippines produced 18.15 million metric tons (MMT) of palay in 2015, 4.31 percent lower than the previous year’s output of 18.97 MMT.