P107M income loss seen as Bohol farmers stop planting amid looming El Niño

The Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) has projected that farms will accumulate an income loss of an estimated P107 million in the forthcoming months as farmers have refrained from planting crops amid the expected emergence of El Niño.

OPA representatives led by its chief Liza Quirog reported this on Tuesday during the pre-session meeting of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) which has started to mull the declaration of a state of calamity in a bid to mitigate the effects of El Niño.

The OPA has already recorded at least P4.7 million worth of agriculture damages due to extreme heat prevailing in the province since January.

Based on the OPA data, the damages were reported in 41 out of 47 towns of the province.

So far, only the towns of Valencia, Pres. Carlos P. Garcia, Loon, Sikatuna, Alburquerque, Sagbayan and Corella have not reported damages.

According to Ariel Abalos of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) Bohol, the occurrence of an El Niño phenomenon has become more likely, with a probability of at least 70 percent.

Abalos said that due to the high chance of occurrence, an “El Niño alert” has already been hoisted by the state weather bureau.

“Sa May, June, July naa na ta sa transition period karon into possible El Niño,” he said.

According to Provincial Board Member Aldner Damalerio the SP’s Committee on Agriculture continued to conduct deliberations on the proposed declaration.

However, Damalerio said the SP needs more data to further support the need to place the province under a state of calamity.

“When we asked if naay nay municipality sa Bohol na nagdeclare og state of calamity, wala pa but 41 LGUs have already been affected but we need more data like status of water level of dams and what type of crops will be affected once El Niño hits,” Damalerio said.

The province still has sufficient disaster risk reduction management fund or more popularly known as calamity fund but this can only be accessed if the declaration is made.

Earlier, the Irrigators Association of Bohol appealed to Governor Aris Aumentado to declare a state of calamity allowing the provincial government to release funds to support affected farmers.

They asked the provincial government for support through the calamity fund as preemptive measure to mitigate the effects of the looming El Niño. (A. Doydora)