NATONIN, Mountain Province – Local agriculture stakeholders predicted a zero export and approximately P5 million in losses in the lucrative heirloom rice produced in this remote town because of the impact of El Niño.

Based on the initial assessment of the Municipal Agriculturist’s Office, hundreds of heirloom rice farmers are unlikely to meet their target production of 2.5 tons of native rice as their fields started to dry up last month because of the drought.

Korel rice, an indigenous variety of heirloom rice, reportedly passed the standards and the series of tests of the United States and has been a source of export income for farmers and the local government for over three years now.

Heirloom rice commands a higher buying price in the international market at $5 to $10 per kilo, thus, farmers will lose the chance of earning the huge amount in the present cropping season due to the dry spell which threatens to extend until the middle of this year.

The Cordillera region is expected to export over 25 tons of heirloom rice this year to various markets in the United States but the quota could not be reached this year due to the drought that damaged most of the rice plantations in the region.