3,059 has. of rice field destroyed by El Nino

By Mar. T. Supnad

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan- A top official of the Department of Agriculture bared 3,059 hectares of rice field have been damaged by the El Nino phenomenon in the province.

Director Cipriano Santiago of the Department of Agriculture Regional Office reported that status of the agriculture damage in the province was based on reports by municipal and city agriculturists as validated by their office

Santiago was summoned by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan as resource person along with those from various national agencies to brief its members on the effects of the El Niño phenomenon on the province and share remedial measures their offices could undertake to mitigate its,

But Santiago said data he presented is a “moving situation” as their office will again monitor the situation the coming weeks.

This has prompted Gov. Amado T. Espino, Jr., to distribute hundreds of water pumps to farmers in Pangasinan to ease the dry spell.

According to Santiago, there are 1,850 hectares of totally damaged rice fields, composed of 74 hectares of standing crop and 1,779 hectares of rice fields not planted.

He added there are 1,209 hectares of partially damaged rice fields.

The equivalent production loss of the totally and partially damaged rice fields is 9,587 metric tons of rice or P162.9 Million.

Santiago said there are actually 64,531 hectares of rice fields planted, or 106 percent of the target 60,792 hectares.

This means that there is a 4.7 percent production loss in the number of hectares that are actually planted.

Asked whether he would recommend the provincial board’s declaration of a state of calamity in the province, Santiago said that at this time, what is happening in the agriculture sector of the province is insignificant to warrant its declaration.

The Department of Agriculture has provided shallow tube wells to affected farmers and is implementing irrigation rotation and downstream-upstream irrigation scheduling.

PAG-ASA Weather Specialist Rusy Abastillas told board members that their agency released El Niño Advisory No. 7 which included 25 provinces, including Pangasinan, under dry spell areas or areas that will have rainfall deficiency in the next three to four months .

She said the onset of the rainy season will be delayed and the temperature will be warmer than expected especially during the summer months.

National Irrigation Administration officials, on the other hand, informed the Sangguniang Panlalawigan that irrigation systems in the province still operate normally with the exception of Ambayaoan and San Fabian irrigation systems that are feeding irrigation waters 50 percent below their normal flow.

One of the reasons why the province is not yet greatly affected by the El Niño Phenomenon is because it belongs to the part of the country that has Type 1 Climate, where the summer months are normally dry.

It is also the reason why the farmers are accustomed to planting earlier for an early harvest to avoid the drought during the summer.