LUCENA CITY—The El Niño phenomenon has wrought an estimated damage worth of P205.7 million affecting over 6,000 hectares of rice, corn, coconut and other high-value crops in several municipalities of Quezon province.
According to the report from the provincial agriculture office (PAO) headed by Roberto Gajo, the estimated damage due to the dry spell brought by El Niño phenomenon as of March 18 showed that 4,807 hectares of rice were totally and partially damaged: 723 hectares of corn, 270 hectares of high value crops, 183 hectares of coconut and 76 hectares of herbal plants.
The report said that El Niño affected rice crops of 23 municipalities which included Lopez, Gumaca, Catanauan, Padre Burgos, Guinayangan, Buenavista, San Narciso, Calauag, Pagbilao, Sariaya, San Antonio, Tiaong, Lucena city, Infanta, Polillo, Burdeos, Patnanungan, Unisan, Jomalig, Panukulan and Quezon.
Municipalities with damages on coconut include Infanta, Tiaong, Dolores, San Antonio, Sariaya, Lucena city, Mauban, Sampaloc, Pagbilao, Tayabas city, Gumaca, Calauag, Catanauan and Mulanay.
Most specifically, areas hit by the dry spell include the following barangays: Hingiwen in Padre Burgos, Santa Rosa in Lopez, Tubigan in Unisan and Cawayanin in Catanauan, Concepcion in Plaridel, Lubi in Atimonan and Hagonghong in Buenavista.
The report said that the estimated opportunity losses to rice and corn crops amounted to P400,750,000 based on the physical area data of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA).
The OPA said that among the actions taken included the creation of Task Force El Niño, identification of vulnerable and affected areas, validated data on standing crops, and inventory of functional irrigation facilities and machineries.