FARMERS have already incurred losses amounting to P9.9 billion due to the damage caused by El Niño to their crops, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Tuesday.
Agriculture Undersecretary Emerson U. Palad said the bulk of production losses were incurred between January to April 2. During this period, Palad said crop damage reached P6.5 billion.
Production losses incurred by farmers between February and December 2015 reached P3.4 billion.
“This is subject to validation, which is ongoing,” Palad said in a news briefing held at the National Economic and Development Authority on Tuesday.
In 2016 Palad said the three regions that incurred the largest crop damage were Region 10 at P2.46 billion; Region 6, P1.9 billion; and Region 12, P748 million.
These estimates, Palad said, were lower than what was expected by the DA. The department used the 1997-1998 El Niño episode as baseline in making its projection.
The DA said 677,441 hectares were affected by El Niño, which hit the country in 1997-1998; 555,102 hectares in 2010; and 373,494 hectares from February 2015 up to April 2, 2016.
Farmers belonging to the Sama-hang Industriya sa Agrikultura (Sinag) said the government must immediately provide aid and production subsidies to farmers affected by El Niño, so they can start replanting or sowing alternative crops.
Sinag also criticized the DA for the “slow and bureaucratic” distribution of support to farmers in response to calamities.
“Since last month, the DA has been saying that it has allocated P900 million to support the farmers in Mindanao devastated by El Niño. Instead, what we’ve been hearing in the news is the distribution of checks and farm equipments, which seems more like a campaign for their candidates,” Sinag Chairman Rosendo So said in a statement.
So also noted that the provincial board of North Cotabato has declared a state of calamity in the province as early as January 21. This should have hastened the delivery of funds to help the farmers.
“The multiagricultural alliance contends that there is no justification for a very slow and bureaucratic response to calamities, such as El Niño,” Sinag said.
The group said the government has a list of farmers in each locality, which means there is no need for any certification process from concerned local government units. Funds, the group added, are already available and allotted.
Cai U. Ordinario and Mary Grace Padin