(Eagle News) — Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol said the country’s rice and corn production targets can still be met despite El Nino.
In a Facebook post, Piñol said this was because reported losses were “only” 0.96 percent, or 197700 metric tons, of the 20 million MT target for rice; while “only” 2.94 percent or 256,766 MT of the 8.64 million MT target for corn represents the losses for the crop.
According to the agriculture secretary, the Department of Agriculture has provided support to both farmers and fisherfolk affected by the phenomenon, and has released P360 million in insurance payments and emergency loans.
Piñol said to date, the Agricultural Credit Policy Council has allotted P95.875 million in financial assistance under the Survival and Recovery Assistance Program for the benefit of 3835 farmers, while the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation has paid P264.515 million of insurance to 24,119 farmers.
He said this was apart from the cloud-seeding operations conducted to “provide artificial rain to farmers who need rain for their crops.”
“Region II has conducted 17 sorties, which led to (a) rise in water levels of Magat dam. Meanwhile, region XI and XII has conducted five sorties over agricultural and watershed areas in Davao del Sur and North Cotabato,” Piñol said.
Seed reserves for rice, corn and high-value crops, Piñol said, have also been prepositioned for farmers who will opt to replant this coming wet season.
