MANILA, Feb.7 (NNN-PNA) -- The Department of Agriculture (DA) and six of its attached agencies are carrying out assorted intervention measures that include optimizing water delivery to irrigation systems and deploying mobile animal diagnostic laboratories to ease the impact of the El Nino dry spell on the farm sector.

DA Undersecretary Bernie Fondevilla on Saturday said the measures would involve the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) as well as irrigators’ associations (IAs) in El Nino-affected areas.

Fondevilla said the mitigation measures were taken up during the latest meeting of the interagency task force that had been created by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to work on intervention programs for this latest dry spell, which is expected to last till July.

"Although the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) foresees the El Nino attack to be a moderate one, the weather bureau has projected that it will last longer this time until July," he said.

El Nino refers to the unusual warming of sea surface temperatures along the equatorial Pacific that is usually characterized by below-average rainfall, which leads to a dry spell.

Fondevilla said the DA’s regional field units (RFUs) would help implement some of the measures, especially those that need close supervision at the municipal level.

"Such measures include scheduling the release of irrigation diversion equipment for the Angat Maasim River Irrigation System (AMRIIS), which will be implemented by the DA and NIA, and the linking of canals from the Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation System (UPRIIS) to the Angat-Maasim Dam covering 6,000 hectares in Bulacan, to avoid delays in the planting season," he said.

He added that "the NIA will team up with IAs in optimizing water delivery and scheduling to national irrigation systems and rehabilitating existing irrigation canals through the drainage reuse system."

With the assistance of the Philippine Air Force, Fondevilla said the Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM) has started its cloud seeding operations in critical drought areas.

Both the BSWM and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) will also install 6,000 units of shallow tube wells and pumps or engine sets for fisheries, which will cover 18,000 hectares of El Nino-affected areas in 47 provinces, and establish open source wells for community food gardens producing high value commercial crops (HVCCs).

The DA’s field operations service and RFUs will also help farmers shift to alternative crops to limit losses.

The DA would also help palay farmers shift to corn by providing them hybrid corn seeds, Fondevilla said.

The DA will also provide seed subsidies in the form of drought- and saline-tolerant rice variety seeds as well as corn, vegetables and root crops.

Fondevilla said the intervention measures also included the continuous field surveillance in areas during highly susceptible crop stages; providing rodenticides to local government units and mobilizing communities for massive control activities; providing the livestock and poultry subsectors with veterinary drugs and biologics; and deployment by BAI of mobile diagnostic labs.

It is also realigning some P1.7 billion from its regular budget this year to bankroll these measures, he said.

Of the amount, the DA is carrying out P570 million-worth of intervention measures for the palay sector, Fondevilla noted.

Under its 2010 El Nino Mitigation Program, the DA will also set aside P613.7 million to carry out intervention for the corn sector; another P411 million for the HVCC subsector; and P117.4 million more for fisheries.

As early as December last year, the DA had already created its own task force to carry out its program to raise crop production along with farmers’ incomes in the face of a then-looming El Nino attack.

The DA task force focuses its mitigation measures on 23 "highly vulnerable" areas and 24 "moderately vulnerable" areas in the country, said Fondevilla.

Considered as highly vulnerable to the onslaught of El Nino are Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, La Union, Pangasinan, Cagayan, Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, Zambales, Cavite, Rizal, Occidental Mindoro, Palawan, Capiz, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Misamis Oriental, Zamboanga City, Sarangani and South Cotabato.

On the other hand, considered as moderately vulnerable to El Nino include the provinces of Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Mt Province, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Batangas, Laguna, Quezon, Romblon, Sorsogon, Aklan, Antique, Bohol, Samar, Zamboanga Norte, Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga Sur, Bukidnon, Davao Oriental, Davao Sur and Davao City.

Total agricultural production losses under a mild El Nino scenario could reach P8.09 billion, and P20.46 billion under a severe dry spell, said Fondevilla.

He said that based on studies made by the DA, a total of 453,204 hectares of land planted to palay, 227,843 hectares of corn areas, and 14,160 hectares in the fisheries sector are threatened under a prolonged El Nino attack. -- NNN-PNA