The Department of Agriculture (DA) and other government agencies are preparing the agriculture and fisheries sector in the country ahead of the beginning of the El Niño phenomenon this year.
DA Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban said they are doing their best “in trying to allocate the resources like seeds, fertilizers, and other commodities that are necessary for the impact of the El Niño phenomenon to the farming communities in the country.”
This was during the first meeting of the DA’s National El Niño Team with partner agencies from the Food Security Group under the National El Niño Team of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council on June 1.
Among those discussed were the DA El Niño Mitigation and Adaptation Plan for crops, fisheries, and livestock sub sectors that covers prevention and mitigation, preparedness, response, and rehabilitation and recovery.
Malacañang said among the strategies identified were dissemination of information, education, and communication materials, proper water management, prepositioning of resources, crop diversification, adjustment of planting calendar, buffer stocking of inputs, promotion of short cycle and drought tolerant crops.
DA Assistant Secretary for Operations Arnel De Mesa said they are preparing for the worst-case scenario, with government initiatives prioritizing areas that will be severely affected. AG – gb
