Region III farmers optimistic on recovery after widespread destruction
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| A
farmer in San Jose, Nueva Ecija, receives two bags of fertilizer from FAO. Photo credit: ©FAO/Nikki Meru |
At least 4 300 families that were able to
replant their damaged farms with assistance from the Department of Agriculture
(DA) are currently receiving supplemental fertilizer and other farm inputs from
the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
“Proper fertilization will help improve the
volume and quality of their yield. Fertilizer can be costly and many farmers
are unable to do the required follow through at certain stages of crop growth,
especially when they are already stuck in a cycle of debt,” said FAO
Representative in the Philippines José Luis Fernández.
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A farmer in
Cabanatuan,
Nueva Ecija, applies fertilizer to his crops. Photo credit: ©FAO/Nikki Meru |
“Without timely and adequate support, the
production capacity of rice farmers could be compromised. This would result in
lower incomes and overall reduced supply of staple food at the end of the
current cropping season,” he added.
The two typhoons, which swept at least 31
provinces in seven regions of the country last October, left USD233 million in
production losses to the agriculture sector. More than a quarter of affected
farmers are in Aurora and Nueva Ecija – communities that are still struggling
to recover from successive typhoons, dry spells and droughts from 2015 to 2016.
“We lost about 80 percent of our palay this time. This was painful for us
since our family only relies on this for all of our needs. The burden is even
greater for us as women because we have to worry about how our families will
eat three times a day,” narrated Gilda Agustin, a farmer from Barangay Palayag,
Cabanatuan City.
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| Farmers
in Nueva Ecija and Aurora provinces receive supplementary fertilizer through FAO’s Typhoon Sarika and Typhoon Haima Response. Photo credit: ©FAO/Nikki Meru |
“Now that the weather is good, we have
hope. We are doing our best to fertilize our crops. This is why the fertilizer
that FAO is delivering is very timely. It will increase our yield come March or
April and there’s a chance that we can fully recover for as long as we can
sustain this,” added Florentino Policarpio of Barangay Palayag.
A total of 8 600 bags of urea fertilizer
are currently being distributed to eight hard-hit municipalities to help ensure
that the most affected and vulnerable farmers would be able to harvest rice by
April 2017. This includes Maria Aurora, Dipaculao, Baler and Casiguran in
Aurora Province; and San Jose, Muñoz, Sta. Rosa and Cabanatuan City in Nueva
Ecija. The fertilizer support is also supplemented by 4 300 sets of assorted vegetable
seeds and farm tools to address some of the immediate food and nutrition needs
of affected families.
Strengthening
resilience and response capacities
The DA, with support from FAO, launched
drone-aided post-disaster mapping missions in areas affected by typhoons Sarika
and Haima. The information gathered by field teams was subsequently processed
at the FAO-supported Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Operations Centre
in Quezon City, and used by the government for response and rehabilitation
planning.
As part of its livelihood recovery
response, FAO will also conduct training programmes for provincial and municipal
agricultural technicians, extension workers and local farmer trainers on
resilient rice-based farming systems. The training modules will then be
integrated into the government’s regular extension activities and technical
advisory services for farmers. Technical assistance will also be provided at
the regional level to strengthen the disaster response capacities of DA staff.
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