Farmers in eastern Luzon and Visayas were encouraged to harvest their crops "whenever possible" to reduce possible losses to agriculture that the approaching typhoon "Bising" might cause.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Friday, April 16, told the farmers to prepare even as the typhoon is said to have a low chance of landfall since it may re-curve away from the Philippine landmass while heading toward Eastern Visayas or Bicol regions.
But a westward shift in the current forecast track may result to a different outcome over the weekend until Monday, the agency said.
"We therefore advise our farmers in Bicol and Eastern Visayas that may be affected by typhoon Bising to harvest their crops, whenever possible," DA Sec. William Dar said .
"We also urge fishermen near the typhoon’s path to take precautionary measures and refrain from fishing as conditions may worsen as ‘Bising’ nears," Dar added.
DA Eastern Visayas Dir. Angel Enriquez said there are currently more than 125,000 hectares (ha) of rice planted under reproductive stage (62,972 ha) and maturity stage (62,902 ha). As for corn, there are some 460 ha planted.
Enriquez said she has issued an advisory for Eastern Visayas provinces to conduct an inventory of available buffer stocks, as well as encourage farmers to conduct early harvesting.
DA regional directors in Eastern Visayas, Bicol, and Northern Mindanao were also directed to mobilize their respective regional disaster risk reduction and management teams to quickly respond to areas that may be affected by the typhoon.