AGRICULTURE Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. has called for faster execution, better field coordination, and data-driven planning as the Philippines braces for a potentially very strong El Niño later this year.
The weather phenomenon brings severe, below-average rainfall, triggering prolonged droughts, agricultural damage, and water shortages, though it can also occasionally enhance monsoon rains.
With weather agencies forecasting El Niño to peak in November, Tiu Laurel instructed Agriculture department personnel to fast-track irrigation, water impounding, and other climate-adaptation projects, noting it has more lead time to implement mitigation measures than during the previous episode.
“Preparedness prevents a challenge from becoming a crisis, and a crisis from deteriorating into a catastrophe. [This] must be our guiding principle in the months ahead,” Tiu Laurel said.
The directive, issued at the DA’s midyear management committee meeting last week, came as Tiu Laurel commended staff for progress in the first half of the year, including improved internal assessments and positive evaluations from the Department of Budget and Management and the Commission on Audit, while cautioning that the coming months will be more difficult.
He noted improving external conditions could help farmers prepare: fertilizer costs have fallen from a peak of over $930 per metric ton to about $450, fuel prices have eased, and domestic retail fertilizer prices are expected to reach pre-pandemic levels of P1,600 to P2,000 per bag by August.
Lower input costs, he said, present an opportunity to encourage farmers to maximize planting before the dry spell worsens.
Beyond short-term climate preparations, Tiu Laurel outlined a broader shift toward a food systems approach that integrates production, storage, logistics, weather data, and market demand through real-time data.
He cited onions and carrots as examples of commodities the Philippines produces in sufficient volume but still imports due to inadequate storage and cold chain infrastructure.
Additional cold storage, blast freezers, and logistics facilities would allow local harvests to be preserved longer and distributed more efficiently, Tiu Laurel said.
He also instructed regional offices to identify each province's strongest agricultural and fishery commodities, estimate production capacity, and measure post-harvest losses to guide investments in storage, processing, and cold chain facilities.
Tiu Laurel said the DA’s strategy for the next two years is to act sooner, plan smarter, and use better data to strengthen Philippine agriculture and reduce reliance on imported food.
