By Gail Momblan/Philippine News Agency
ILOILO CITY — El Niño or the prolonged dry spell has damaged at least 87 percent of rice crops in Iloilo province, an official of the Provincial Agriculture Office (PAO) reported on Friday.
“We created a validation team to confirm the damage. The team went and included the standing crops in the province,” PAO chief Ildefonso Toledo said.
From October 2018 to March 2019, Iloilo province has a standing crop of rice of 32,181 hectares which cover 38,618 farmers.
“Based on their April (validation team) report to the Municipal Agriculture Office, the area affected is around 28,000 hectares,” he said.
The number of totally damaged area is estimated at 7,000 hectares while the remaining of the total 28,000 affected areas are partially damaged.
Meanwhile, Toledo said a total of 27,245 rice farmers were affected which translates to 71 percent affected farmers.
“The total cost of these affected rice crops reached PHP1.3 billion,” he said, adding that the consolidated report is already submitted to the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO).
The cost of damage on corn is lower than that of rice crops, Toledo noted.
Damages on standing corn crop from October 2018 to January 2019 reached PHP160,000, covering 4,502 hectares.
Toledo also assured that the report is in sync with the data of the Department of Agriculture in Western Visayas.
Five towns in Iloilo province– of Bingawan, Lambunao, Maasin, Janiuay, and Santa Barbara– has been put under the state of calamity because of El Niño’s damage to agriculture and lack of water supply.
Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Sr. reiterated on Thursday that the concerned agencies have to make sure that its El Niño reports are validated before the entire province could be placed under a state of calamity.
For the latest updates about this story, visit the Philippine News Agency website
