THE Department of Agriculture (DA) is pursuing a P98-million budget for El Niño mitigation measures in Central Visayas, a key official said. Close to P50 million will be used in this quarter, while P48.6 million will be allocated for the El Niño measures next year, but the amount is still subject to the approval of the Department of Budget and Management, said Joel A. Elumba, officer-in-charge of the DA Regional Technical Director’s Office. Official data of the agency showed Bohol, the top rice producer in the region, will get half of the total allocation. The dry spell is expected to last up to early 2016, reported the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA). According to Elumba, the funds will be used for the following: installation of small-scale irrigation projects, water management programs, procurement of livestock and hybrid seeds, distribution of vegetable and rice seeds, procurement of pesticides for quick response to pest outbreaks, and buffer stocking, among others. Until now, Elumba said, the agency is closely monitoring the situation and conducting meetings and action planning workshops with stakeholders. So far, he said there was no damage attributed to the drought. Diversify, farmers told He added that the National Economic and Development Authority 7 has created an inter-agency El Niño roadmap that would identify necessary measures, and the DA is one of the participating agencies. While the government agencies have agreed to work together to mitigate the dry spell’s effects, Elumba called on farmers to do their part by diversifying their crops. “(We no longer encourage) mono-cropping kay dili man na resilient. If you have (varieties of crops), naa pa kay other sources of income kung maigo man gani sa kainit ang uban (We no longer encourage mono-cropping because that is not resilient. Having different varieties of crops will protect your income in case some of them succumb to the heat),” Elumba said. The DA 7, he said, has long been advocating for diversification in the farming system, but the agency is reiterating this call, noting that changes in weather patterns have made agriculture more vulnerable. Cloud-seeding funds In the next months, prices of vegetables are seen to fluctuate, Elumba said, but rice prices would be stable since there is more than enough supply to buffer increased demands. The province of Bohol, for its part, has allocated funds for cloud-seeding in case the drought worsens. Bohol produces 70 percent of the total rice yields in Central Visayas. “A plan is on standby in Tagbilaran (to do the cloud seeding),” Elumba said, but since there are scattered rains once in a while, it is cost-efficient to postpone the activity for now. In case of damage, Elumba said the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. has assured that there are enough funds to cover the insured crops. Elumba reminded farmers to have their farms registered with the Municipal Agricultural Office in their towns. This is free of charge, he said, and guarantees farmers of insurance coverage in case of loss due to El Niño. The DA has a P1.1-billion allocation this year, and this is seen to grow by 10 to 15 percent in 2016. Source - http://www.sunstar.com.ph