Davao City agri office to seek fund for El Niño-affected areas; state of calamity declaration unlikely

THE DAVAO City administration is unlikely to recommend a state of calamity declaration with less than 20% of the population affected by the prevailing El Niño phenomenon based on the impact assessment submitted by 13 of its 182 barangays. “It must take 20% of the population to be affected in terms of agriculture to declare a calamity; and no barangay has declared calamity so far,” Leo Brian D. Leuterio, acting head of the City Agriculturist Office (CAO), said last week. The CAO, nonetheless, is submitting a P25 million budget proposal to the office of Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio for the installation of small irrigation systems in the heavily-affected areas, particularly the city’s three food production districts of Paquibato, Marilog and Toril. Mr. Leuterio said based on the reports, about 2,000 hectares of farms and about 4,000 farmers have felt the impact of the dry spell that started in November last year. — Carmelito Q. Francisco