Environmental group Greenpeace on Sunday pushed for crop diversification to help farmers cope with the adverse effects of climate change.
According to Greenpeace, the urgency of crop diversification has been highlighted by a warning of the state weather bureau earlier this month that a weak El Niño is likely to affect the rainfall patterns across the country in the coming months.
“Diversified farming is one of the practices of ecological agriculture which Greenpeace is advocating for and calling on the government to support. Ecological farming will help protect farmer’s livelihoods, by providing them with other products to harvest, in times of typhoons and El Niño,” said Wilhemina Pelegrina, Greenpeace regional coordinator for Ecological Food and Agriculture Campaign.
The group issued the appeal as it revisits the town of Dolores in Eastern Samar three months after Typhoon Ruby (international code name Hagupit) wrought havoc on Eastern Samar. Greenpeace is assisting victims of the typhoon.
Greenpeace said farmers in Dolores are now showing signs of recovery.
A group of farmers from Cebu, Bohol and Negros collected ecologically farmed rice seeds, root crops, vegetable seeds and organic fertilizers with the help of Greenpeace, which it delivered to 125 of the most affected farmers in Dolores. The town is also called “the Rice Granary of Eastern Samar,” although local farmers also plant coconut and abaca.
Ruby affected coconut trees and rice plants, which were submerged in water for days. Only water-resistant rice varieties survived.