Archives

Vol. 4 No. 5
April 1-30, 2003
El Niño and coping with it
by Junelyn S. de la Rosa

Centuries ago, Peruvian fishermen noticed a current of unusually warm water that came to their shore every few years near Christmastime. Since the fishermen believed in the birth of the Christ child at Christmas, they named the hot water El Niño, which means "the infant" in English.

Today, after the severe drought and food shortage in 1989 and 1990, everybody would probably agree that El Niño is a misnomer. In the Philippines, El Niño has resulted to an abnormally long dry season and severe drought and higher temperature.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) reported nine El Niño incidents from 1968 to 1997. Of these nine events, five were considered strong. In 1998, the Department of Agriculture reported a 14.36% reduction in the hectarage planted to major crops due to El Niño and typhoons Emang and Gading.

The drought in 1990-1993 resulted to the most severe reduction in corn yield for the past 26 years. An estimated 478,000 metric tons of corn valued at PhP2.1 billion was destroyed triggering a shortage in the local corn supply and resulting to high prices of feeds for livestock and meat and poultry products.

Another negative impact of El Niño is the water shortage in different parts of the country. Thirty-two percent of the water sources, rivers and springs dried up in Iloilo, Batangas, Cebu and some parts of Mindanao. For instance, in Davao del Sur, residents coped with the water shortage by boiling banana tree trunks.

Researchers documented the different ways in which farmers cope with El Nino over the years. Many farmers installed water pumps and shallow tube wells. Others saved on-farm and household expenses and engaged in other jobs to supplement the family income. Some farmers substituted rice with sweet potatoes and borrowed money from relatives and friends to meet their basic needs.

Case studies in Talugtug, Nueva Ecija showed the success of Small Water Impounding Projects (SWIP) in the four villages- Alula-Sampaloc, Buted, Maasin and Villa Boado. The sites were predominantly rainfed with rolling to hilly and flat to gently sloping topography. Most of the farmers practiced a rice-rice cropping pattern with the first cropping season in June to July and the second cropping season in November to December.

Benefits from SWIM include extra income from fish production, recreational use, irrigation for vegetables and forage production along the canal. The dam was also used as a drinking area for their livestock and other household activities.

Other coping strategies of the farmers were: cogon gathering, charcoal making, helping harvest rice in other farms, working in other non-farming jobs, renting pumps to get additional irrigation from the creek, working as hired farm laborer, engaging in backyard swine production and reducing household spending.

On a national level, PAGASA established the national Drought Early Warning and Monitoring System (DEWMS) to provide decision makers with relevant information about the onset, continuation, termination and severity of drought conditions. PAGASA issues drought advisories to governors in the provinces.

Research and development activities on El Niño are being done and/or funded by the Bureau of Agricultural Research of the Department of Agriculture (DA-BAR), the PCCARD-DOST, state colleges and universities and other research institutions. A multi-agency collaborative R&D program was implemented in 1998 headed by PCARRD with funds from the Department of Agriculture. The El Niño R&D program was created to provide a stronger basis for a more effective and efficient information, education and communication (IEC) campaign on El Nino.

Policies for water resources development and management were also implemented. All of these strategies are crucial in coping with El Nino and ensuring that Filipino rice and corn farmers are better prepared for any El Niño incident in the coming years.

Source: El Niño Impacts on Agricultural Production and Coping Strategies by F.C. Monsalud, J.G. Montesur and E. R. Abucay of the Farming Systems and Soil Resources Institute, College of Agriculture, UP Los Baños, College, Laguna 

April 1-30 2003 Articles:

:: DA creates open academy for Philippine agriculture
:: PCA collaborates with international institutions to unravel coconut genome
:: EU tariff preferences benefit RP
:: Making his mark
:: GIS application in irrigation emphasized
:: BAR joins Asia IT and C workshop
:: Philippine agri’l engineering standards launched
:: El Niño and coping with it
:: What’s ailing our sweet potatoes?
:: The world’s first GM peanut

::: More April 2003 articles :::