El Niño damage on crops in Antique hits P141-M

SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique – The damage caused by the El Niño phenomenon on crops, including the supposedly drought-resilient corn in the province of Antique, has now reached over P141 million.

Provincial Agriculture Office chief Nicolasito Calawag said in an interview Thursday that because of the extreme heat caused by El Niño, corn that had been planted and are now on their reproductive to maturity stage, had been damaged.

"The extreme heat and lack of water had damaged the corn planted in 360.105 total hectares in various municipalities of the province," he said.

He added the total damage on corn in the municipalities of Barbaza, Patnongon, Hamtic, Sibalom, Valderrama, San Remigio, San Jose de Buenavista, Tobias Fornier, Tibiao, and Sebaste is P18.8 million.

However, Calawag said the damage on rice is the biggest at over P110 million, affecting 4,151 farmers in 2,340.94 hectares of land.

The 13 towns that have reported damage on rice crops are Hamtic, Patnongon, Valderrama, Anini-y, Tobias Fornier, San Jose de Buenavista, Sibalom, San Remigio, Culasi, Laua-an, Bugasong, Tibiao, and Sebaste.

High value crops such as radish, squash and pechay planted in the three municipalities of Bugasong, Sibalom, and in Tobias Fornier also suffered losses amounting to P9.6 million, involving 140 farmers who own 253.78 hectares of land.

Inland fisheries have not been spared by drought, incurring P2.6 million damage in the towns of Bugasong, Hamtic, and Tobias Fornier.

"Together with the Philippine Rice Research Institute, we have already inventoried the rice affected areas so seeds could be provided to the farmers for them to use during the wet season," Calawag said.

He said the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) will also be providing assistance to the inland fish farm owners.

"Once the province could be declared under the state of calamity, the P20-million Quick Response Fund of the provincial government could also be used to assist the affected farmers," Calawag added.

So far, only the town of Sibalom has yet been declared under the state of calamity due to the effect of El Niño. (PNA)