By Edwin Fernandez/PNA
COTABATO CITY — An estimated PHP605-million worth of agricultural crops in two provinces of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) were destroyed by the weak El Niño that has struck the region since early February, a regional agricultural official said Friday.
Dr. Mohammad Yacob, head of the BARMM Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Agrarian Reform (MAFAR), said the cost of damages could even go higher as reports from three other provinces of the region — Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi – have yet to come.
Citing the March 26 report of BARMM Task Force El Niño, Yacob said the data was only from the provinces of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, where 10,818 hectares of rice and 11,039 hectares of corn are affected.
“Of the total 21,857 hectares affected, 11,050 hectares were considered totally damaged and (has) no chance of recovery,” he said.
A total of 18,423 farmers have been affected in the two provinces, with Lanao del Sur having 11,087 farmers affected and 7,336 in Maguindanao.
Yacob said ahead of the weak El Niño, the MAFAR started implementing mitigating measures to cushion the impact of the dry season that included planting of heat-resistant variety of agricultural crops, use of open source pump irrigation system and shallow tube wells.
“Also included in the mitigating measures was the massive vaccination of livestock across the two provinces,” he added.
