Drought-hit Isabela now losing P4B in crop damage

By FRANCIS HIDALGO JR.

ILAGAN, Isabela – Isabela, the country’s El Niño worst-hit province, is now losing nearly than P4 billion worth of crops, fishery and livestock as a result of the prolonged dry spell.

According to Danilo Tumamao, provincial agriculture officer, the corn sector is the most ravaged agriculture commodity at P1.9 billion; followed by palay, 1.4 billion; and nearly a billion pesos in losses in other high-value crops as well as livestock and fishery.

The damaged agriculture commodities here, represent more than 30 percent of the P11 billion worth of crops and other food items damaged nationwide due to the abnormal weather, which started to hit northern Luzon and other areas of the country since December.

“We are already responding to the situation, especially in providing pump wells in hard-hit areas and other immediate mitigating measures to prevent further losses,” he said.

Isabela, also the country’s leading producer of corn and rice, along with Cagayan, Quirino and Nueva Vizcaya, have already been placed under the calamity state, owing to the combined billions of pesos worth of crops devastated by the dry spell.

These provinces, which comprise the mainland Cagayan Valley , produce at least 30 percent of the country’s total corn and rice production output.

Nueva Vizcaya Vice Gov. Jose Gambito said that they already approved the immediate release of P22 million from the province’s calamity fund for farmers heavily affected by the ongoing drought.

“Such amount will further enable the provincial government to extend more assistance to our farmers. We have to respond quickly to somehow cushion the effects of this ongoing crisis,” Gambito said.

Meanwhile, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, a native of this region, called on the government to brace for the importation of corn, rice and even animal feeds in anticipation of the huge drop of supply of these commodities due to the worsening dry spell, hitting Cagayan Valley and some parts of the country since late last year.

“We are already responding to the situation, especially in conducting cloud seeding as well as providing pump wells in hard-hit areas to cushion the effect of the dry spell, especially among our farmers,” said Tumamao.

Earlier, Enrile said the government should by now be preparing to import corn and rice amid the expected huge drop in their production output this season amid the worsening dry spell.

“As early as now, I believe the government should prepare to import rice and corn to be able to cope with the needs of the people and those in the chicken, pig and livestock raising industry,” said Enrile.

The other reported drought-hit areas in the country are Bulacan, Laguna, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan, Masbate, Cotabato, Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Nueva Ecija, Antique, Guimaras, Negros Occidental, Davao del Sur, North Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat.

While the government has set aside money for cloud seeding and funds to help farmers and fishers survive the long dry spell, Enrile described these as only stop-gap measures to mitigate the immediate impact of the dry spell.

“We need to have foresight and plan everything for us not to be in such a mess every time there is El Niño,” he said.

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