Thelma Cinco, head of the impact assessment and applications section of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, said that the weather phenomena are a manifestation of global warming and would directly affect the country’s agricultural production.
Moreover, she said that global warming was also expected to bring an average of 19 weather disturbances each year, with the latest data showing that unseasonably dry spells caused agricultural losses worth PHP4.8bn (US$104m) last month alone.
The figures, by the Department of Agriculture, also revealed that 349,620 tonnes of crops were destroyed and 121,490 farmers affected in March.
Hardest hit were corn fields, which suffered damage valued at PHP2.7bn, while losses to rice fields reached PHP2bn. High-value crops recorded a production deficit amounting to PHP21.6m.
To continue implementing an action plan agreed last year to counter damage caused by El Niño, the DoA will need an additional PHP3bn, which cannot no be allocated due to changes to the government’s bureaucratic accounting processes.