Bukidnon under state of calamity due to El Niño

The Provincial Board of Bukidnon has declared the province under a state of calamity, which was brought about by the adverse effects of El Niño.

"The entire province of Bukidnon whose economy mainly depends on agriculture has been experiencing drought since November 2015 until February of the current year," the legislative board stated.

The board said that the three-month drought has brought damage not only to agriculture and allied industries that this has affected the economy of the province.

In a report submitted by the Provincial Disaster Reduction and Risk Management Council and Provincial Agriculture's Office, at least 55.57 percent of planted areas for agricultural products such as corn, rice, cassava and vegetables was damaged by the drought.

For corn, out of a total planted area of 31,294.75 hectares, 23,697.87 hectares has been damaged or 75.7 percent. At least 20,734.72 hectares have no chance for recovery.

For rice, 55.6 percent of 9,991.42 hectares was affected by the El Niño and 4,523.45 hectares have no chance of recovery.

Cassava produce of the province was hard-hit with 84.30 percent of a total planted area of 4,189.98 hectares affected by the drought.

The damage to high value crops and vegetables was pegged at 7.20 percent with 1,070.23 hectares affected by the drought out of 14,904.94 hectares total planted area.

Based on the data provided by the PDRRMC and its recommendation, the provincial board has declared the entire province of Bukidnon under the state of calamity brought about by the El Niño phenomenon.

Copies of the resolution were given to the Office of the Provincial Governor, Provincial Budget Office, all local government units of Bukidnon, the Commission on Elections and the Department of Social Welfare and Development regional and provincial offices. — BAP, GMA News