Cebu’s farmlands are still unaffected from the drought which is supposed to come with El Nino. This is despite the effects of the El Nino phenomenon in some other provinces in the country which have already felt the ill effects of the dry spell. Ricardo Oblena, the Executive Regional Director of the Department of Agriculture, stated that Cebu and some parts of Central Visayas have yet to experience the effects of El Nino. He also stressed that that the public should still brace itself for the long dry spell within the next few days.
Based on the reports from the Department of Agriculture, Oblena said that Cebu’s farmlands and fishponds are still unaffected. No reports of damage to crops, livestock, and marine life have been recorded yet. Oblena added that the Department of Agriculture is already preparing assistance to farmers and fisherfolks who would be affected by the El Nino.
Angel C. Enriquez, who is the Regional Technical Director of the Department of Agriculture, said that since El Nino is expected to affect cropping in the first semester of this year, the agricultural sector in Central Visayas has already set up its preventive measures to mitigate the harmful effects of the predicted dry spell as early as December last year.
Central Visayas is among the 24 identified areas in the country considered “moderately vulnerable” to the El Nino phenomenon expected to hit the province of Bohol and some parts of Negros Oriental.
In Bohol, which is also known as the “rice capital” of the region, an estimated 3,788 hectares of rice farms will be affected by El Nino’s dry period. The drought is expected to reduce corn-planted areas by 2,671 hectares, resulting to an estimated production loss of 6,674 metric tons. The most heavily affected corn areas are situated in the provinces of Bohol and Negros Oriental.
