Crop insurance to offset El Niño
ONLY the Department of Agriculture’s National Irrigation Administration has so far provided the most practical antidote to the worst El Niño phenomenon expected to hit the country next month to last until the first quarter of 2024.
NIA distributed solar-powered irrigation pumps to farmers’ cooperatives in Pangasinan. It is practical because it relies on solar power unlike traditional water pumps that require expensive diesel fuel to operate.
As envisioned, the distribution of these pumps will irrigate 15,500 hectares of farm land, and seen to benefit 21 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) and five non-ARBs who are tilling the surrounding area.
But the program is only about sustaining planting efforts.
The bigger concern during the El Niño is the projected damage to the crops. Translate that into millions of losses on the part of the farmers. There is only one ready response and solution to alleviate the farmers’ plight – to provide farmers crop insurance from the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation.
Given the series of warnings from PAGASA about the impact of this year’s El Niño, it is inevitable that many of our province’s farmers will again be in deep debt once the impact is felt over a prolonged period. When that happens, the DA and mainstream media will simply announce some P300 million losses in the agri sector. Note: Never about the number of farmers who directly suffer from the losses.
Since the Guico administration has not announced any plans to prepare the province for the expected onslaught of El Niño, it might as well consider adopting this program. All it needs essentially are critical data, i.e., how many farmers plant rice and other basic commodities to determine baseline for millions in insurance premiums.
The initial raw data can be provided by DA and town/city mayors while the members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan can seek to obtain best practices from rice-producing provinces on how they implemented crop insurance for their farmers.
The urgency and significance of this response to El Niño is not debatable. After all this is about real life support, far more important than planning for cement bags for highways and building.
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