Province survives El Niño, now prepares for La Niña
LINGAYEN—Pangasinan, one of the top rice-producing provinces in the country, considers itself “very lucky” for not sustaining extensive damages due to the El Niño phenomenon.
This was the assessment submitted by Dalisay Moya, acting provincial agriculturist, during the 1st Pambansang Mannalon-Mag-uuma-Magbabaul-Magsasaka ng Pilipinas (P4MP) Regional Congress held at the Health and Wellness Center, Narciso Ramos Sports and Civic Centre in Lingayen.
“Pangasinan was very lucky since it was not greatly affected by El Niño because since the Pag-Asa announced about the phenomenon, the provincial government led by Gov. Espino has immediately planned out mitigation measures,” Moya said
Among the mitigations measures adopted included the rehabilitation of communal irrigation systems and installation of shallow tube wells irrigation projects in the province.
The provincial government also provided farmers over 6,000 bags of certified and high quality palay seeds and about 600 units of water pumps, said Oftociano Manalo, outgoing regional president of the P4MP in Region 1.
Manalo said the palay seeds were used by farmers in replanting after their crops suffered from El Niño.
He added that ongoing Agno River Integrated Irrigation System Extension Project (Arisep) that seeks to rehabilitate and construct irrigation facilities in the province will irrigate 12,800 hectares of rice fields in Pangasinan province.
Arisep will benefit the towns of San Nicolas, Tayug, Sta. Maria, Rosales, Sto. Tomas and Alcala in Pangasinan; and San Manuel town in Tarlac.
Meanwhile, Moya said the provincial government has started preparing for La Niña by encouraging farmers to use smart varieties of palay like the submarine and floating rice.
Meanwhile, Governor Amado Espino Jr., guest speaker during the P4MP Congress, a farmer himself, urged his fellow farmers to do their best in their field, noting that agriculture is indispensable.
“We will stay as an agricultural country,” he remarked.
He also called on the government to provide interventions to help the farmers.
Pangasinan is 200% rice self-sufficient producing an average of four metric tons or 80 cavans per hectare, said Moya. (Johanne Macob)
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