El Niño dries up 4 hectares of fish farm in North Cotabato

Four hectares of fishponds have dried due to the effects of the dry spell from El Niño that has left, so far, an estimated P2.2 billion in damage to agricultural crops.

In Santo Niño town in South Cotabato, four hectares of fish farms have dried up since the National Irrigation Administration cut the water supply to the town due to scarcity.

Fish farmers said the town's fish production would surely suffer delay. Particularly affected, they said, is the  production of tilapia, News To Go reported Wednesday.

Earlier, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported that  damage to agriculture in the country's six regions as a result of El Niño has already reached P2.2 billion, with Soccsksargen being hit the most.

The amount of damage to rice, corn and other high-value crops per region is as follows:

• Soccsksargen - P808.6 million
• Bicol - P793.9 million
• Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao - P403.3 million
• Mimaropa - P192.5 million
• Western Visayas - P76.3 million
• Calabarzon - P12.7 million

NDRRMC executive director Ricardo Jalad said the National Capital Region and  Zamboanga Peninsula were also affected by the El Niño though there are no damage reported yet.

Based on NDRRMC records, 16 provinces, towns and cities have already declared a state of calamity due to the dry spell since February 11, with Datu Abdullah Sangki in Mindanao the latest to do so on March 13. —LBG, GMA News