LINGAYEN— Compared to farmers in other provinces, farmers in Pangasinan are faring better in surviving the adverse effects of the dry season aggravated by the El Niño phenomenon.

This was the observation of Dalisay Moya, officer-in-charge as provincial agriculturist, and said, Pangasinan has been more fortunate.

“In Pangasinan, malawak pa rin ang nataniman ng palay this dry season,” she said.

She said Pangasinan experiences yearly dry spell “but so far only those in the tail-end of irrigation systems and those in rain-fed areas that have no source of irrigation water are the ones that experience the effect of dry season.

Based on gathered data, farmers were still able to plant on about 72,000 hectares of land with rice and about 44,000 hectares with corn this season and amidst El Niño.

Moya also pointed out that 50% of the planted palay were already harvested this dry season.

Farmers, she said, have been advised to plant only in areas with assured water sources to minimize their risks and losses, and to plant vegetables that do not need a lot of water such as mungbean, okra, among others.

Present irrigation water sources in the province include the San Roque Dam and communal irrigation systems.

Meanwhile, Moya said the dry season is actually very favorable to corn production since it helps in the drying of corn grains.

Corn farmers are also now harvesting yields, she added.

Moya said the province will still likely to have enough, even surplus, supply of palay and corn for the rest of the year.

Pangasinan is the top 3 producer of rice and top 5 producer of corn among the provinces in the Philippines. (Johanne Macob/Tita Roces)

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