SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union – El Niño has destroyed 34.4 hectares of land planted to rice and affected 30 farmers in Barangay Evangelista, Tayug, Pangasinan.
Department of Agriculture (DA)-Regional Field Unit 1 (Ilocos) Information Officer Vida Cacal said damaged rice plants were under booting stage and affected farmers have already requested corn seeds to replace them.
Cacal said that damaged lands were rain-fed and a small portion of the 68,000 hectares planted to rice and 6,000 hectares to corn in Region 1.
To mitigate the impact of El Niño in the region, the DA- RFU 1 has provided water pumps and drought-resistant vegetable seeds for farmers.
The DA-RFU 1 encouraged farmers to plant “kamote” (sweet potato) and “ube” (sweet yam) as they only need a minimal water requirement to grow.
Cacal said they are now preparing at least P1.5 billion to ease the impact of El Niño in the Ilocos region.