Boost rice buffer before start of El Niño

MANILA, Philippines, April 24 ----- The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) warns that the El Niño phenomenon, which is characterized by prolonged dry weather, is expected to develop as early as next month and threaten the country’s food production, especially of rice.

It suggested that the government immediately prepare buffer stocks of milled rice ahead of the worsening of the dry spell and called for “prepositioning” supplies of the staple grain to ensure availability in supply-short provinces and at the same time address high food inflation in the country.

This was among the measures presented at the first-ever meeting on April 20 of secretaries—instead of assigned delegates—of the Inter-Agency Committee on Inflation and Market Outlook (IAC-IMO), which President Marcos ordered created last March 7 as a proactive measure to fight persistently high inflation. Cochaired by Neda and the Department of Finance, the committee serves as an advisory body to the administration’s Economic Development Group on measures that will keep inflation, particularly on food and energy, within the government’s target range.

The Department of Budget and Management serves as vice chair of the committee while the members include the Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Energy, Department of Science and Technology, and Department Trade and Industry. The government weather agency Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) had projected that El Niño would persist until 2024.

The DA already reactivated its El Niño task force earlier this month to mitigate the impact of the expected dry weather on crops, as DA deputy spokesperson Rex Estoperez noted that “when there is a calamity, whether it’s El Niño or typhoons, the biggest hit is always… agriculture. He said the task force is led by a steering committee of undersecretaries and assistant secretaries and assisted by a technical working group of representatives from the various DA agencies.

The DA said the mitigation and adaptation plan for this year would focus on building more water-related infrastructure, such as the development or rehabilitation of irrigation canals, diversion dams, and small-scale irrigation projects before the start of the El Niño. Citing Pagasa’s forecast of rainfall, the DA said 16 provinces in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon), Central and Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula and Caraga Administrative Region (Agusan and Surigao provinces) would be affected by the El Niño.

Source: inquirer.net