Eastern Visayas farmers ask to brace for La Niña

TACLOBAN CITY, May 28 (PNA) – The Department of Agriculture (DA) regional office has rice farmers to brace for intense rains as La Niña sets in during the second half of the year.

DA Eastern Visayas Regional Director Leo Cañeda said they have already advised farmers to plant early and utilize climate smart rice variety that can withstand stress due to flooding.

If La Niña will bring its worst, Cañeda said, about 155,000 hectares of rice farms in the region will be affected. In two cropping seasons, those areas normally produce 200 metric tons of rice.

Should there be loses during La Niña, the regions rice self-sufficiency will suffer the most.

The region experienced a three percent shortfall in rice production last year compared to the previous year as the region only just recovered from the devastations caused by natural calamities.

Rice self-sufficiency is presently posted at 88 percent. Leyte’s plains in the second district, which is the rice granary of the region, is being braced to face the La Niña occurrence.

The end of an El Niño event is often followed by the reversal of the phenomenon, known as La Niña.

La Niña occurs when easterly trade winds strengthen. That cools water across the central and eastern 

Pacific Ocean, which in turn can up-end weather around the world. The severity of the phenomenon is measured by ocean temperatures and changes in wind patterns.

It also increases the likelihood of tropical cyclones in the Pacific.

On the other hand, DA reported that aside from rice, El Niño did not have a significant effect on the production of other agricultural products in the region. (PNA)
ZST/SQM/AHLETTE C. REYES/EGR