The Department of Agriculture (DA) is preparing for the worst-case scenario of the El Niño phenomenon in the country, an official of the agency has said.

*(Photo courtesy of Department of Agriculture)

* “DA is already preparing for the worst[-case] scenario for El Niño this year. Nevertheless, we will be of course expecting PAGASA (Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration) to provide us regular updates on this,” Agriculture Assistant Secretary for Operations Arnel De Mesa stated. “Sana po ay hindi naman magtuloy (Hopefully, it doesn’t continue), but we should always prepare for the worst case scenario,” he added. According to De Mesa, as not all areas in the country will be affected by El Niño, the government initiatives could focus more on areas that will be severely hit. Representatives from partner government agencies should facilitate easy access and sharing of information with the DA to guide planning and decision-making activities, he said. Last June 1, the DA's National El Niño (NENT) team held a meeting where U-Nichols Manalo, DA Field Operations Service Director and DA-NENT chairperson, presented the agriculture department’s El Niño Mitigation and Adaptation Plan for crops, fisheries, and livestock subsectors.  The strategies identified include dissemination of information, education, and communication materials, proper water management, prepositioning of resources, crop diversification, adjustment of planting calendar, buffer stocking of inputs, promotion of short cycle and drought tolerant crops among others. DA Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban said the agency is doing its “best in trying to allocate the resources like seeds, fertilizers, and other commodities that are necessary for the impact of the El Niño phenomenon to the farming communities in the country.”