ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Luzon devider NIA: 479 hectares of farms in Bicol affected by El Niño dry spell

NIA: 479 hectares of farms in Bicol affected by El Niño dry spell

Published Mar 6, 2024 07:13 am

LEGAZPI CITY, Albay – The National Irrigation Administration reported on Wednesday, March 6, that 479.15 hectares of rice farms in Bicol region have been affected by the dry spell due to the El Niño phenomenon.

BICOL DROUGHT.jpg

RICE farms in Polangui, Albay are starting to dry up due to the El Niño phenomenon. (NIA 5)

Engr. Gaudencio M. de Vera, NIA-5 regional manager, said that 250.60 hectares of irrigated area in the province of Albay, 114.30 hectares in Camarines Sur, and 80 hectares in Masbate were hit by the dry spell.

De Vera said that affected farmlands are communal irrigation systems whose water are sourced from creeks, rivers, and small streams.

He said that they are implementing interventions to reduce the impact of the dry spell. Among these are desilting and dredging of rivers, creeks, and streams.

NIA has augmented water pumps to affected farmers.

De Vera said that 526 farmers were affected by the dry spell in Bicol – 302 in Albay, 160 in Camarines Sur, and 77 in Masbate.

Meanwhile, Polangui, Albay Mayor Adrian Salceda, president of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP)-Albay chapter, said on Tuesday, March 5, that the province is bracing for the impact of the El Niño phenomenon.

"As president of the LMP-Albay, I already brought to the attention of Department of Agriculture Secretary Frankie Tiu-Laurel the drought affecting at least 425.4 hectares of farms in the third district of Albay. Secretary Laurel and I met on January 25, when weather predictions already suggested an upcoming El Nino," Salceda said.

He disclosed that LMP-Albay is working with DA to immediately address the needs of affected farmers through the fast-tracked distribution of the Rice Farmer Financial Assistance (RFFA) under the Rice Tariffication Law, endorsement of the local government unit and NIA requests for augmentation of water supply in affected farms, and hastened processing of claims with the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. for damaged crops.

"I am also working with the mayors of the affected municipalities, Polangui, Libon, Oas, and Pio Duran, as the situation develops," he added.

The third district of Albay is the province's rice granary and responding to the ongoing drought protects the people of Albay from hunger and high food prices, Salceda said.

Related Tags

Bicol Drought Dry spell National Irrigation Administration El Niño
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.