THE Department of Agriculture (DA) on Friday gave assurances there will be no “rice crisis” during the start of El Nino this year.
DA Undersecretary Leocadio S. Sebastian said necessary measures are now in place to ensure sufficient rice supply even during droughts induced by El Nino in the last quarter of the year.
These include advancing the planting season, which usually falls during July, to next month.
“The prelude to El Niño will be the rainy seasons in June, July, and August. That is why we advanced the planting season. So, in many areas we already have worked with NIA (National Irrigation Administration) to advance the planting calendar,” Sebastian said in a press conference in Malacañang on Friday,
The change will allow farmers to start their harvest before November when the worst effects of El Niño are expected to be felt.
Sebastian also said they are currently mapping out the areas where agricultural production is expected to suffer or benefit from El Niño, so they can provide the necessary interventions to the affected farmers.
In negatively affected areas, he said they provide measures to mitigate the impact of the drought on crops.
Meanwhile, for areas where high solar radiation is expected to accelerate crop growth, they will provide interventions to help increase their production.
“So, hopefully we will be able to successfully balance out the positive and negative effects. We may even gain from those areas where we will have a positive effect of El Niño,” Sebastian said.
Last month, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) estimated the probability of the occurrence of El Niño from June to August at 80 percent, and this will rise to 86 percent from November to January.
Image credits: Bloomberg