Bulacan agri sector needs P500M to prepare for Super El Niño

CITY OF MALOLOS—Bulacan’s agriculture sector needs P500 million to mitigate the effects and anticipated damages of a Super El Niño on the province’s farmlands, according to Bulacan experts in a report.   

Gloria Carillo, Bulacan agriculture officer, asked for the allotment of P511,909,400  to cushion the brunt of El Niño on rice production, high-value crops and fisheries. 

Carillo told the Inquirer on Saturday (October 24) that the budget proposal has not yet been approved.  

Article continues after this advertisement

READ: PH bracing for P20-B losses from El Niño 

FEATURED STORIES

NEWSINFO

NEWSINFO

NEWSINFO

An action plan for the El Niño budget would provide compensation for a series of worst-case scenarios: a bad category, with 25 percent in damages; a worse category, 50 percent in damages; and a worst category with 100 percent damages. 

Rice production under the ‘bad’ category would need P25 million to address the projected impact on 5,509.55 hectares of land tilled by 4,334 farmers. Damages to 14,932 hectares of land run by 11,319 farmers correspond to P65 million under the ‘worse’ category, and 34,300.68 hectares of land controlled by 25,515 farmers under the ‘worst’ category would need P341 million. 

The money would be spent on mung beans, which enrich the soil of rice farms, as well as fertilizers, water pumps, and crop insurance. 

Over 24,000 rice production hectares manned by farmers in Bulacan and Pampanga rely on Angat Dam through the Angat Maasim River Irrigation System (AMRIS), which the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) operates.

Article continues after this advertisement

As of  Monday, the Angat Dam reservoir remained at 209.19 meters above sea level (masl), which is near its 210 masl high-water elevation.

Carillo said P9.9 million will address vegetable production in 314.01 hectares of land being farmed by 1,184 people under the ‘bad’ category, while P18.5 million would be required for 611.76 hectares of land tilled by 2,369 farmers under the ‘worse’ category

Article continues after this advertisement

P57.5 million is needed under the ‘worst’ category covering 1,256.4 hectares of land farmed by 4,737 people. 

READ: Provinces brace for drought, farm losses

The allocation would purchase insecticides, Shallow Tube Wells (STW), mung beans, and crop insurance. 

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.

Your subscription has been successful.

The action plan also provided funds for Bulacan’s fishery sector. /coa