“The health of our planet depends on the health of its ecosystems, and sustainable agriculture is key to maintaining that health.” – Jules Pretty
The drought is expected to end soon but not without a devastating impact in agriculture, estimated to cost in billions, slowing down the economy while we brace ourselves for the possible onslaught of the La Niña phenomenon as forecasted.
Philippine agriculture will again be bombarded with another devastation with only a matter of time and the degree it will bring about.
POOR AND BACKWARD
Interestingly, there are in the country that are resilient during the drought’s devastation. I have come up with a list of a few provinces that withstood the test of drought. Let me start with provinces which are least receptive, and whether there is drought or not, their agriculture has been suffering from sustainability due to limited technology and budget. Some notables are Lanao del Sur, Sulu, Sarangani, Northern Samar, Maguindanao, Bukidnon, Sultan Kudarat, Zamboanga del Norte, Siquijor, and Agusan del Sur.
One outstanding indicator is the economy of these provinces. They are considered the poorest provinces, however some of their features vary that cause their poverty incidence to be the highest in the country. Take the cases of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, and Siquijor face unique challenges that contribute to their agricultural poverty.
Lanao del Sur, for one, is a poor province that is geographically land-locked by the surrounding provinces of Bukidnon, Maguindanao and North Cotabato. It is under the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region I Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) characterized by rolling hills, valleys and occupies extensive plateau around Lake Lanao and 50% of its agricultural lands does not have irrigation. A major factor of its vulnerability to drought, sinking its economy and rising poverty incidence – one of the highest at more than 64 percent. Crop productivity is a major problem, and most farming systems and practices remain backward utterly lacking farm equipment and machinery.
The Maguindanao province is almost the same as Lanao del Sur which is also located under BARMM region. But the major factor that made this province generally poor including its agriculture is its political instability constantly faced with conflicts among warring political clans combined with insurgency problems. The wealth of the province is highly concentrated to the considered “warlords” and there is a very high illiteracy rate. It is an embattled province of historical conflicts largely and significantly affecting its agricultural development with more than 50% poverty incidence.
Finally, Siquijor is a small island-province in the Central Visayas region with a very limited land area where agricultural development is highly constricted especially that slows down its growth. Obviously, the province has limited resources and with its location leaves it vulnerable to threats of natural calamities. Tourism is the main source of income for Siquijor where agriculture has now become the least of its priorities.
STERN AND SURVIVED
On the other hand, there are provinces that survived the test of El Niño. While climate changes have been hitting the country because of our geographical location, these provinces adopted measures to survive drought and other forms of natural calamities.
The statistics authority office recorded Bukidnon as the most productive province in terms of agriculture. Again, this varies depending on their commodities as the main factor. By region it is Northern Mindanao that registers the most productive region in the country followed by Cagayan Valley and Central Luzon. Overall, these three regions account for 32 percent of the total crop production of the entire Philippines, with northern Mindanao at 12 percent with agriculture as the dominant factor.
RESISTANT AND VULNERABLE CROPS
If there are least and most productive provinces, there are also crops that survived and remain productive, and there are those that suffer terribly. The all-time productive crop in the country is rice – our staple that makes it the most important crop among Filipinos. There are more than 15 million hectares of irrigated rice lands in the Philippines and almost 5 million non- irrigated ones with an average yield of 4.5 tons per hectare. Sugarcane follows as the most productive and in 2022 it was the most productive with an impressive 23.4 million metric tons yield. Sugar is as important as rice. Other major crops that significantly contribute to the economy are coconut and banana.
Despite all the challenges in Philippine agriculture these four major crops remain significant by way of their economic contribution and help generate employment with or without calamities.*
