Sunday, August 19, 2007 Drought damages P277-M crops
THE Ifugao Provincial Government, through the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist, pegged crop damage caused by the abnormal dry weather at P241,999,551.15 covering the four municipalities in the province.
Micheal Tegui-in, crop damage report officer, noted the towns of Aguinaldo, Alfonso Lista, Lamut and Lagawe as those with damaged crops with Alfonso Lista the most affected.
As per latest reports submitted by municipal agriculture offices, 14,371 farmers who planted rice, corn, vegetables and fruit trees were affected.
Tegui-in said the insufficient water during the vegetative and reproductive stages of rice and corn, respectively, either stunted the growth or damaged these crops.
These stunted and damaged crops have few kernels or small ears.
Reports showed a bigger portion of the number of hectares planted with rice and corn have a lesser chance of recovery especially in Aguinaldo, Alfonso Lista and Lagawe.
“However, with the waning of the dry spell, we hope some of their crops would be saved from more damages,” Tegui-in said.
In Mt. Province, consolidated reports of the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS), the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (Opag) and the National Irrigation Administration showed that the province incurred a total damage of P35,791,132 in corn due to the dry spell.
Provincial Agricultural Statistics Officer Canuto Tawali said the eastern municipality of Paracelis, which is near Isabela, is the most affected by the dry spell incurring a total production loss of 3,049.60 metric tons worth P35,436,352 for yellow corn alone.
The other 560 hectares in the different municipalities, including Paracelis, which are planted with white corn, have also incurred a total loss of P354,780.
The report indicated that from 3,532 hectares of corn plantation in the entire province, Paracelis has the biggest with 2,972 hectares planted with yellow corn.
About 38 hectares of the 2,972 hectares planted with yellow corn have no chance of recovery even with the rains now, Tawali said.
Opag also reported that Barangays Palitud, Bananao and Butigue of Paracelis suffered most from the effect of the dry spell and has affected 298 farmers.
In barangay Palitud, it was reported that out of 254 hectares, 88.9 have been
assessed as having no chance of recovery. Farmers here have incurred a total production loss of P2,458,272.96.
For Barangay Bananao, farmers lost a total amount of P1,036,807 for the 212 hectares of corn damaged by the dry spell while farmers in Barangay Butigue incurred a total production loss of P1,554,867.60 for the 170-hectare corn plantation.
Crop damage caused by the dry spell resulted to unfilled kernel, small ear with few kernels for the vegetative/production stage and reduced size of ears and kernels for the maturing stage.(PIA)For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star General Santos.
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