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LOWER THAN EXPECTED

El Niño ravages P6.5B worth of crops in Q1


The Philippines lost P6.5 billion worth of crops in the first quarter of 2016, an Agriculture official said Tuesday.
 
In a press briefing on the government’s El Niño Task Force, Department of Agriculture (DA) Undersecretary for Operations Emerson Palad revealed the latest data on crop damage due to El Niño.
 
The top three provinces that suffered the most damage were:

  • Region X – P2.462 billion
  • Region VI – P1.9 billion
  • Region XII – P748 million

Last year, from February to December, the country suffered P3.4 billion in crop damage, Palad noted.

While the numbers are definitely lower-than-expected, the Agriculture official clarified that the figures are now undergoing validation.

“If we compare this with 2010 and the previous El Niño, this is much less. In 2010, I think we had a strong El Niño as well,” he said.
 
To prove his point, he shared the various data on devastation caused by El Niño in terms of agriculture lands:

  • 1997-1998 – 677,441 hectares
  • 2010 – 555,102 hectares
  • February 2015-April 2, 2016 - 373,494 hectares

 Corn production was the most affected by El Niño, followed by the rice, even if the damage was lower than expected, Palad said.
 
The department is projecting 500,000 metric tons (MT) of corn has been damaged, but the actual damage so far at 199,572 MT for the first quarter of 2016.

Palad noted 900,000 MT of rice crops were expected to have been lost, but the actual numbers came in so far at 225,272 MT. – VDS, GMA News

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