Cotabato farmers hit by drought receive farm aid

KIDAPAWAN CITY -Agriculture officials in North Cotabato started on Monday the distribution of fertilizers and seedlings to farmers affected by drought. About 16,000 bags of seedlings of rice, corn, and vegetables, along with 16,000 bags of fertilizers were appropriated for Cotabato farmers, according to provincial agriculturist and Engineer Eliseo Mangliwan. These will cover at least 16,000 hectares affected by dry spell that hit the province since February, Mangliwan said. The farm inputs were released to the province by the Department of Agriculture in Central Mindanao (DA-12) under its Fertilizers Assistance Program. Mangliwan said that first to receive the assistance were farmers who are members of the Irrigators Association and Small Water Impounding Service Areas Association. The Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPAG) Cotabato also released at least 4,000 bags of organic fertilizers and seedlings to farmers who are into organic farming. In addition to these, the Cotabato provincial government has allotted some P5 million worth of farm inputs, which they will distribute to affected sectors starting June, also this year. Mangliwan explained that farmers who would benefit from the farm aid given by DA-12 and the provincial government would be closely monitored.” Based on the data from the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPAG) Cotabato, the drought has affected at least 11 towns, including this city, and destroyed some P1 billion worth of rice, corn, vegetables, banana, fruit trees, coffee, cacao, and other high-yielding crops. The drought damaged at least P235.33 million worth of rice corn, P700.16M rubber, P27.8M coconut, P3.2M banana, P53.74M coffee, P632,000 fruit trees, P404,500 vegetables, P2.784M peanut, P520,000 cacao, P186,250 sugarcane, P935,700 and cassava, P150,000, or a total of P1.025 Billion, data showed. Worst hit are towns of M’lang, Matalam, Pikit, and Kabacan, considered rice and corn granaries of North Cotabato.