Feeling the heat: Climate change forcing Filipino farmers to adapt (First of two parts)

In the Philippines, farmers are already feeling the heat. While climate change is already hitting millions of vulnerable people in the country, farmers, too, are being affected—where drought, flooding, hunger and disease are becoming more common than ever. Our correspondent Imelda V. Abaño embarked on a mission to look into the plight of the farmers in the country and witness firsthand what they are facing in times of the changing climate

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet—From upland vegetable and rice farms in the Cordillera to coconut and tobacco plantations in Albay and Ilocos Sur, signs that all is not well with the weather are telling.

Benguet vegetable growers have to confront disrupted planting cycles that result in crop failures.

Farmers tending the Ifugao rice terraces have started witnessing the crumbling of earth paddies that have withstood inclement weather for centuries.

In Albay low yield from their coconut and abaca plantations has been forcing Agta farmers to leave their farms for odd jobs in cities and other urban areas.

Up north in Ilocos Sur, farmers have been hurting from the low quality of tobacco leaves that their farms produce due to the erratic weather.

These are the realities that millions of Filipino farmers, who depend on the weather and the land to survive and deliver food to a hungry nation, confront every day.

While detached from debates among climate scientists and policymakers, these lowly farmers do not need voluminous documents and hours of scientific lectures to know for themselves the impact of more frequent and intense extreme weather events such as cyclones, floods and droughts. The signs are on their doorsteps.

Jun Cawili, 31 and a vegetable farmer in La Trinidad, Benguet, said the old ways of farming, where hundreds of farmers in the upland areas planted their seedlings in mid-November and harvested the crop after about three months, are no longer the norm.

Over the last five years, Cawili said his village has seen crops fail. He does not know what climate change is about; yet, he is among the farmers who complain of poor harvests because of sudden changes in weather.

“Planting nowadays is never fun. We are experiencing crop failure every now and then. Sometimes, we produce none and sometimes we produce too much which are mostly infested by pests,” Cawili said while tilling his small plot of strawberries and cauliflowers. “ I think farmers have to really adapt to this scenario of climate change.”

In the rice terraces of Ifugao, some farmers interpret the rapid deterioration of their centuries-old upland rice farms as a curse and tribal folk perform rituals to appease their gods. Through chants and the offering of chickens, farmers implore the gods to help them revive the beauty of the terraces.

During the planting season from July to September, mumbaki (native high priests) and farmers perform their rituals, believing that by doing so, the gods will protect their crops from deva-station.

“We have a very strong connection with our ancestors and to our lands, and we still believe that our gods will watch over our crops and give us a bountiful harvest,” said 48-year-old rice farmer Rogel Saleng.

Dubbed as one of the wonders of the ancient world, Ifugao’s rice terraces are slowly crumbling due to severe flooding and drought, leaving the paddies parched and highly vulnerable to erosion, damaging millions tons of palay in the past few years.

In the quiet barangay of Joroan in Tiwi, Albay, vegetable, abaca and coconut farmers are on their knees praying to their gods for mercy and allow them to produce enough food for themselves and their community.

Felix Condino, 51, an Agta tribal chieftain from barangay Joroan, lamented that the sudden and unexpected change in weather has resulted in the low production of their crops and forced many farmers to look for odd jobs in the city.

“We are tired of this problem. I have been a farmer since my childhood, but it is only during the past 10 years that we are experiencing the uncertainty in weather,” Condino said. “But we still believe in the power of our nature and our gods and we are offering special rituals to open the window of heaven and shower us with blessings.”

Although some of them are receiving assistance from the provincial government of Albay through the seed-subsidy program and trainings on how to manage their resources and improve their agricultural production, Condino said that climate change spells a misfortune for rural livelihoods and agriculture in their community.       Yielding high-quality produce is what most farmers aim to make a profit. But tobacco farmers in Santa, Ilocos Sur, said  they have been selling their tobacco for the past two years at a minimal price of P23 per kilo because of its low quality. High- grade tobacco is pegged to as high as P100 per kilo.

“Our plight continues to worsen.  Tobacco farmers are forced to shift to other cash crops to sustain our livelihood. We can’t produce high-quality tobacco leaves nowadays because of the erratic weather,” said Alex Sino, 55, a lifelong farmer.

He said he and other farmers are having a hard time adapting to the changing climate in the past few years.  –Imelda V. Abaño / Correspondent, Businessmirror

(To be concluded)