El Niño phenomenon destroys 3,059 hectares

By Mar T. Supnad

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan – A top official of the Department of Agriculture disclosed 3,059 hectares of rice fields had been damaged by the El Niño phenomenon in the province of Pangasinan.

Director Cipriano Santiago, of the DA regional office here, reported that the current status of the agriculture damage in the province was based on the reports by made by municipal and city agriculturists, as validated by their office.

Santiago was summoned by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan as one of the resource persons from various national agencies to brief its members on the effects of the El Niño phenomenon on the province and share the remedial measures their offices are currently undertaking to mitigate its effects during their regular session.

Santiago said however, that the data he presented was tentative as their office will again monitor the situation in the coming weeks.

This has prompted Pangasinan Gov. Amado T. Espino Jr. to distribute hundreds of water pumps to the farmers in the province to somehow alleviate the effects of the dry spell.

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

Meanwhile, he said that there were 1,209 hectares of partially damaged rice fields in the province.

The equivalent production loss of the totally and partially damaged rice fields was about 9,587 metric tons of rice, with an estimated value of P162.9 million.

Santiago said 64,531 hectares of rice fields were actually planted, or 106 percent of the targeted 60,792 hectares.

This means that there was 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 was happening in the agriculture sector of the area is insignificant to warrant its declaration.

Meanwhile, the DA has provided shallow tube wells to affected farmers and was implementing irrigation rotation and downstream-upstream irrigation scheduling.

For his part, Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) weather specialist Rusy Abastillas informed the board members that their agency has released El Niño Advisory No. 7 which cited 25 provinces, including Pangasinan, under dry spell areas or areas that will have rainfall deficiency in the next three to four months.

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

The 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.