THE Department of Agriculture (DA) on Sunday said Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. has ordered attached agencies to continuously revise their El Niño response plans, as the weather pattern threatens to reduce crop production and push food prices higher.
The directive comes after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Thursday raised interest rates by 25 basis points (bps) to fight inflation, partly driven by concerns that El Niño could hurt food supply.
There is much anticipation of a strong El Niño this year since sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific have risen rapidly, clearing critical forecasting hurdles with record-high warmth.
El Niño poses a big challenge for the DA, with drought threatening domestic production while global rice output and trade policies add uncertainty to food supplies.
“The lessons we learned from the powerful El Niño episode that ended in mid-2024 should help us respond better to the climate challenge we now face,” Tiu Laurel said.
The DA is preparing immediate assistance for local producers and taking preemptive measures to secure food supplies before weather disruptions lead to shortages and higher prices.
In the previous El Niño episode, global rice prices surged as concerns over adverse weather coincided with India’s export restrictions in 2023.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said its All Rice Price Index rose 21 percent in 2023 as India disallowed exports of non-basmati white rice and imposed other measures on rice shipments.
The Philippines also felt the impact of El Niño in 2024, when rice production fell 4.85 percent due to adverse weather. Another drought could further tighten domestic and global rice supplies, the DA warned.
The agency is focusing on preventive measures, rather than providing assistance only after crops are damaged. These include strengthening irrigation, adjusting planting schedules, securing farm inputs, monitoring inventories, and preparing import and market interventions when necessary.
The strategy includes shifting production to less affected regions, expanding cloud seeding and solar-powered irrigation, and improving water-use efficiency.
The DA also plans to distribute drought-tolerant seed varieties, provide crop insurance indemnities, and extend emergency financial assistance to vulnerable farmers.
“We have to produce more where the impact of El Niño will be less severe, increase the water available to farmers, and use every drop wisely through practices such as alternate wetting and drying and planting crops that require less water,” Tiu Laurel said.
