Dry spell takes toll on 21 of 37 villages in NCotabato town

KIDAPAWAN CITY — The long dry spell hit 21 of 37 villages in the town of Magpet in North Cotabato in southern Philippines, damaging close to P43.9 million worth of crops there, the town’s agriculturist said on Thursday. "Hundreds of banana plantations and corn crops in these areas were devastated by the dry spell which started in mid-December," Edgardo Linsag, the town’s agriculture’s chief said. Linsag said 368.8 hectares of banana plantations ready for harvest with an estimated worth of P36.8 million, while 296.25 hectares of corn crops with an estimated worth of P5.5 million were severely damaged by the dry spell. Some 1,000 banana plantation workers and corn field owners have suffered losses due to the weather phenomenon, Linsag said.
Michael Joseph Ramo, the town’s information officer also disclosed that the vast vegetable plantations owned by villages’ LGUs have dried up due to scarcity of rain in the last three months. Ramo, however, could not give the estimates in cost of damage in vegetable plantations because Magpet’s agriculture office is still consolidating the data coming from the affected villages. Magpet Mayor Efren Piñol is set to submit his recommendation to the Sangguniang Bayan (SB) to place the town under a state of calamity. The state of calamity declaration could help loosen up the release of calamity funds to assist affected farmers. "We will surely give assistance to the affected farmers once the SB allows me to utilize the five percent of town’s calamity funds," Piñol said. On February 24, the town of Kabacan was declared in a state of calamity after thousands of hectares of rice fields were destroyed by the dry spell. Kabacan is considered as one of Central Mindanao’s major rice and corn-producing areas and is host to a government rice and corn research center. Weather experts noted that the months-long dry spell has caused an average 7-degree Celsius rise in the areas’ temperatures that proved disastrous to rice plants. — Williamor A. Magbanua/LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV