Some P444.9 million worth of damage has been dealt to the Cordilleran agricultural sector following some 3 months worth of drought from the El Niño dry spell, according to the latest Department of Agriculture Cordillera (DA-CAR) reports.
DA-Cordillera Director Jennilyn Dawayan said most of the damage involved yellow corn for animal feeds and rice. P411.34 million of the estimated damage, which was tallied up to the 4th week of March, was in the corn industry, hitting 5,896 farmers, while 1,912 rice farmers were hit with some P33 million worth of damage.
The report said Ifugao incurred the most damage amounting to about P232.12 million, followed by Mountain Province with P160.51 million, Kalinga with P51.14 million, Abra with P591,880, and Benguet, P323,910.
She added that Apayao had yet to make a complete tally of its agricultural damage.
However, while a total of 7,361 hectares worth of agricultural land were hit by damage from the drought, the vast majority of it, amounting to nearly 6,000 hectares, are deemed to only be “partially damaged,” and therefore entirely salvageable with the appropriate interventions.
The DA-CAR have tapped the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to look into the possibility of expanding livelihood assistance for the thousands of affected farmers in addition to DA intervention to recover damaged farmland.
