DA told to invest in research on climate-resilient crop varieties

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) must focus on the development of climateresilient varieties of major crops to mitigate the impact of weather phenomena like El Niño, according to a lawmaker.

AGRI Partylist Rep. Wilbert T. Lee issued the statement after the DA announced that agricultural damage caused by intensifying El Niño has already reached P1.75 billion, covering more than 32,000 hectares of farm lands and displacing almost 30,000 farmers.

“Panahon na upang pagtuunan natin ng pansin ang pagdevelop ng climate-resilient na palay at mais para maibsan ang epekto ng El Niño sa hinaharap,” Lee said.

“Mayroon nang mga naunang pagaaral ang IRRI [International Rice Research Institute] sa climate-resilient rice na kayang magtolerate sa extreme climate conditions. We just need to adopt and build on this technology for our farmers to benefit from it.

The IRRI has developed drought-tolerant rice varieties which have been released in several countries including Sahbhagi Dhan in India, the Sahod Ulan in the Philippines, and the Sookha Dhan varieties in Nepal.

It is also currently studying flood-tolerant rice varieties which have been released and are now being planted in various areas including Swarna Sub1 in India, Samba Mahsuri in Bangladesh, and IR64-SUB1 in the Philippines.

“Mayroon ding pag-aaral ang United States Department of Agriculture [USDA] tungkol naman sa drought-tolerant [DT] corn. I suggest we propose a knowledge exchange of sorts para mapakinabangan nila ang pag-aaral natin sa palay at makuha naman natin ang teknolohiya nila sa mais,” Lee said.

DT corn varieties became available to US farmers between 2011 and 2013 after decades of research on drought tolerance by crop breeders and plant scientists.

“We need to utilize and maximize all available agricultural technologies so as to make our farmers—our food security soldiers—more resilient to climate change,” the solon said.

“Kapag hindi na apektado ang ating mga magsasaka sa pagbabago ng klima, tataas ang produksyon at kita nila, at bawas pangamba naman sa ibang mga pangangailangan tulad ng gastos sa pagkakasakit o pagpapa-ospital.”

The DA earlier announced that eight regions in the Philippines were most affected by El Niño: Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan), Western Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, and Soccsksargen.

Most affected was Mimaropa, which incurred a P770-million damage to agriculture, followed by Western Visayas with P560 million; Cagayan Valley, P180 million; Central Luzon, P158 million; Ilocos, P54 million; Zamboanga peninsula, P13 million; Calabarzon, P7 million, and Soccsksargen, P2 million.