El Niño destroys P2 billion worth of crops in Northern Mindanao

Cagayan De Oro City (CNN Philippines) — Misamis Oriental and Misamis Occidental have yet to declare a state of emergency despite having P2 billion worth of crops ruined due to El Niño.

Earlier, the provinces of Bukidnon, Lanao del Norte, and Camiguin were put under a state of calamity due to the dry spell.

Read: Negros Occidental under state of calamity

As of April 18, the latest data of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in Northern Mindanao showed Bukidnon losses reached P338 million.

Worth of damaged crops in Lanao del Norte reached P28 million, P6 million in Misamis Occidental, and P2.9 million in Misamis Oriental.

Losses in corn production in Bukidnon reached  P998 million, P53 million in Lanao del Norte, and P52 million in Misamis Oriental.

Cassava and other high-value crops losses were pegged at about P123 million and P429 million, respectively.

Mary Grace Sta. Elena, chief of Regional Agriculture and Fisheries Information Officer, said financial assistance for the drought-hit areas was in the pipeline, including additional hours of cloud-seeding operations.

Read: Ilocos Norte mulls water-drilling regulation

Sta. Elena said the figure would possibly increase as El Niño continued to wreak havoc on the agriculture sector.

Recently, the DA in Region 10 convened provincial and municipal agriculturists across the region to get updates on the crop losses and tackled assistance their offices had so far extended to affected areas.

Farmers in Misamis Oriental and Cagayan de Oro City continued to keep an eye out for a declaration of a state of calamity so that more aid could be provided for them.