Cordillera staves off El Niño with watershed protection

BAGUIO CITY -- The Cordillera region is a lot luckier than other regions as it has not been hit by the adverse effects of the prolonged dry spell plaguing other parts of the country.

“We are blessed and lucky because of the daily afternoon rains. We are actually surprised because for the past five years we have been worried of the critical condition of our agriculture because of the effect of the El Niño but since it was declared five months ago, we have not recorded a single incidence of damaged crops due to drought,” said Robert Domoguen, information officer of the Department of Agriculture-Cordillera.

He said this is the first time the Cordillera was spared from the effects of the El Niño, particularly the agricultural sector of the region.

The region’s projects on watershed protection as well as the irrigation projects of the National Irrigation Administration and farmers’ effort to select crops appropriate for summer season are among the factors cited for the region’s successful response to the dry spell.

Domoguen said Kalinga province, particularly Tabuk City, which is often hit by drought, has reported a good agricultural harvest. Tabuk City is the top producer of quality rice in the Cordillera.

In November 2013 until March 2014, the provinces of Kalinga, Mt. Province and Ifugao suffered from drought, affecting the hybrid corn production and rice, reaching agricultural damage amounting to about P500 million.

In relation to the phenomenon, Danny Galati of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration-Cordillera, said the region is blessed with rains regularly occurring compared to the other parts of the country especially in Visayas and Mindanao which are suffering from the El Niño phenomenon.

In the last quarter of 2014, PAGASA declared the start of the El Niño phenomenon affecting the entire country.

“We have been having a good cloud formation in the region even with the El Niño already in effect reason we do not feel it so much. Our high elevation is also an advantage which makes our temperature better aside from the rains that we are having,” said Galati.

He added that the temperature in Baguio City and in most parts of the region remains at 24 to 25 degrees Celsius since the start of El Nino last year.