DAGUPAN CITY – Almost 3,000 hectares of agricultural land have been affected by the dry spell as a result of El Nino in the Ilocos region.

A BACKYARD garden suffers from the dry spell caused by the El Nino in the Ilocos region. (Liezle Basa-Inigo)
Analiza Ramos, Field Operations Division chief of the Department of Agriculture-Region 1, said 1,600 hectares were planted to corn, 1,200 to rice, and 71 to high-value crops. Damage was placed at P113 million.
Nine-hundred forty hectares were damaged in Ilocos Norte, followed by the province of Pangasinan with 578, and Ilocos Sur with 148. The province of La Union has not reported damage due to El Nino.
The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) has distributed 643 water pumps to ease the dry spell in Pangasinan.
The NIA-Pangasinan Irrigation Management Office said the water pumps were distributed to irrigators association.
Several solar-powered irrigation systems are under construction in Pangasinan to help farmers deal with El Niño.
Engineer Chito Baldovi, officer-in-charge of the Ilocos Norte Provincial Agriculture Office, said that P4.4-million worth of high-value crops planted in 37 hectares in Ilocos Norte have been affected by El Niño. (With a report from Freddie Lazaro)