El Niño’s damage to RP agriculture now P8.4 billion

The government has confirmed an increase of almost half a billion pesos in damage to the farm and fishery sectors caused by lingering effects of the El Niño weather phenomenon.

Agriculture Secretary Bernie Fondevilla said on Friday that the confirmed total crop damage stands at P8.4 billion, or higher than the official P8 billion figure recorded early this month.

“We are still in the process of validating the rest,” Fondevilla said on the sidelines of the Agricultural Guarantee Fund Pool Awards rites.

He added that the P8.4 billion has been validated, comparing it to the reported P11.95 billion damage reported three weeks ago.

Rice and corn, Fondevilla said, accounted for more than half of the damage, while fish and high-value commercial crops made up the remaining amount.

But the Agriculture chief added that they “are not closing doors” on the possibility that the aggregated damage could actually reach P11.95 billion.

“We still have to take into account that the harvest season has just started. Thus, until it ends we cannot really say how serious the damage suffered by our farmers and fisherfolk,” he explained.
Fondevilla said that the farm sector is likely to contract, provided an estimate of P11.95 billion in crop damage was accurate.

“If it is verified, then contraction is likely for this quarter, and the damage could even be carried over in the succeeding quarters,” he added.

The P11.95-billion estimate was up by almost two folds from the initial figure of P3.77 billion made on February 16.

But Fondevilla clarified that this report is still under evaluation by the department and that they would release the official report on crop damage by end-May.

The crop damage is within the P8 billion to P20-billion range forecast made by the Agriculture department earlier. The agency said that a severe dry spell would cost P20 billion in lost harvest.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration maintained that this year’s El Niño would likely be moderate.

“We are still within the moderate dry spell, and the projections are still within the government’s target. We are expecting the [El Niño] impact to ease in the coming months,” Fondevilla said. –Katrina Mennen A. Valdez, Manila Times