SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union (PIA) -- The Department of Agriculture-Regional Field Office 1 (DA-RFO1) will distribute P28.4 million in assistance to farmers affected by El Niño in the Ilocos Region this year.
 
As part of the intervention, P21.1 million worth of hybrid seeds, certified seeds, registered seeds, fungicides, insecticides, and rodenticides shall be distributed to beneficiaries under the DA’s Rice Program.

While P6.2 million in funds from the High-Value Crops Development Program (HVCDP) of the DA shall also be distributed to affected farmers, in the form of 200 kilograms of assorted vegetable seeds and 2,000 bottles of botanical pesticide.
 
The DA’s Corn Program will also contribute 203 bags of GM Yellow Corn Seeds worth P1.1 million for the distribution effort.
 
DA-RFO1 Field Operations Division Chief Analiza Ramos reported a total of P103.2 million in crop damages in Region 1 as a direct result of El Niño, with rice damages contributing to most of the damage with P50 million.
 
“Corn damages meanwhile represent P44.9 million while high-value crops represent P8.3 million of the total damages,” Ramos said during the 1st Quarter Regional Economic Development Sectoral Committee (EdSeCom) meeting in this city on March 8.

“We are now updating the El Nińo action plan due to the submitted and validated damaged areas in the region so we can [already start with] the interventions for those farmers who were validated,” Ramos said.
 
DA-RFO1 Regional Executive Director Annie Bares meanwhile says that although significant, the reported damage on crops will not affect crop production in the current cropping period because the majority of the crops are still in their vegetative stage and are likely to recover.
 
The DA and its stakeholders also continue to hold site validations to review the extent of El Niño damages to crops throughout Region 1, noting water stress caused by drought in several areas, particularly in the provinces of Pangasinan and Ilocos Norte.
 
The agriculture department also bared their plan to fast-track the construction and rehabilitation of their FY 2023 Small Scale Irrigation Projects throughout the region to help farmers and increase water support for crops experiencing drought.
 
There has also been the early positioning and distribution of pump and engine sets to help farmers properly and efficiently transfer water from irrigation systems to their farms, helping offset the effects of El Niño on their crops.
 
To inform the general public on El Niño and its effects on farming and crop yield, the DA also conducts information caravans, most notably an information caravan held last September 2023. (JCR/AMB/CCMT, PIA La Union)