DRY SPELL. A Cebu City personnel watches the vegetable crops of a farm in a hinterland barangay in this file photo. The National Irrigation Administration on Friday (April 5, 2024) reported that 1,047 farmers in the city have been affected by the El Niño phenomenon. (Photo courtesy of Cebu CIO)
CEBU CITY – At least 1,047 farmers in this capital city have been affected by the El Niño phenomenon, the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) said on Friday.
Kieth Monteroso, senior engineer of NIA-Cebu, said the farmers here who caught up with the cropping season during rainy days last January and February are now reeling with the rising temperature that destroyed their vegetable farms.
However, Monteroso said portions of the affected 454 hectares are still recoverable, and that the agency is helping the farmers lessen their losses.
"To date, we have standing crops which are 50 to 60 percent savable (recoverable). However, if the intense heat continues until May, more likely that 100 percent of their (farmers) crops would be damaged," he added.
NIA conducted monitoring and assessment in all agricultural villages in the upland area to determine the extent of damage to farm lots without water supply.
Monteroso assured farmers that NIA has established proactive mitigation measures to lessen the dry spell's effect on the agricultural communities in Cebu.
For instance, he said NIA has a water project that can supply irrigation canals covering 664 hectares of the 1,159-hectare service areas.
The city government placed 28 hinterland villages in a state of calamity amid the dry spell that destroys farmlands. (PNA)
