Secretary Bernie Fondevilla of the Department of Agriculture has ordered DA regional officials to start preparing this early for the wet planting season in May and closely coordinate with farmers and other stakeholders in overcoming the effects of the El Nino on standing crops.

Fondevilla said the DA will continue to distribute water pumps, seeds, fertilizers and other inputs to farmers to help them tide over the impact of the El Nino on the agriculture sector.

He said the DA will closely work with the local government units (LGUs), which now have primary responsibility over the farm sector in their respective areas of jurisdiction, to provide subsistence farmers with the necessary assistance they require, including emergency employment, diesel subsidies and additional farm inputs should they decide to shift from rice and corn to other crops.

“Small farmers and fisherfolk will be given priority when it comes to hiring workers for irrigation repair and the construction of farm-to-market roads,” Fondevilla said during the recent Management Committee (Mancom) meeting at the DA central office in Quezon City . “These are the measures that we are immediately implementing to help our farmers and fishers affected by the El Nino-induced dry spell.”

Read more…