ILAGAN, Isabela – The provincial government of Isabela and the Region 2 office of the Department of Agriculture (DA 2) reported that over 112,000 corn and rice farmers in the province have already been deprived of their major source of livelihood after their crops for the season were either partially or totally damaged by the worsening effects of the El Niño phenomenon.

Moreover, the combined crop damage in the province had been recorded to over P4.09 billion for the first quarter of 2010 and still counting since the drought is expected to extend until the middle part of this year.

The Cagayan Valley, which is composed of the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, Quirino, and Nueva Vizcaya, is said to be the major producer of rice and corn in the country due to the presence of vast tracks of agricultural.

Of the P4.09 billion initial crop damage estimate, corn plants that were either partially or totally damaged in 33 towns account for some P2.2 billion, while rice plants that were partially or totally destroyed in 34 towns and two cities was pegged at P1.89 billion.

In the consolidated local government and DA report, about 56,000 rice farmers and the same number of corn farmers are now in dire need of government assistance in order for them to cope up with the situation which has greatly affected their main source of livelihood.

Earlier, the DA 2 distributed 1,059 water pumps to farmers in Isabela and Cagayan who were severely affected by the drying up of their rice and corn farms, but the damage to the same crops is continuously increasing as the extreme summer heat continues to prevail in most parts of the country.

At least 62 percent of the total rice farms, and 73.4 percent of the corn plantations in the whole province have already been ravaged by the prolonged dry spell, thus, other farmers who are not affected fear that their crops will also be damaged in the coming days if no rains will come over the drought-stricken places just to mitigate the effects of the dry spell.

Because of the worsening effects of El Niño to the country’s food and energy security, the DA and other stakeholders have intensified the conduct of cloud seeding operations over most parts of Northern Luzon primarily aimed at bringing artificial rain to help prevent more crops and livestock from being affected.

Aside from the expensive cloud seeding operations, concerned government agencies and local government units are also helping the drought-stricken farmers by distributing drought-resistant seeds to be planted during the dry spell so that they could have a source of living while waiting for the next cropping season for rice and corn.