The Philippine Business Mirror, March 28, said the Philippine National Weather Service issued a warning that El Niño may lead to lower-than-normal rainfall in the second half of 2023, triggering a drought that could cause reduced yields of rice and other crops. Rain-fed rice production accounts for about a quarter of total Philippine rice production, with the top three distribution areas located in the autonomous regions of West Visayas, Ilocos and Mindanao. Low rainfall can also reduce irrigation water availability and thus affect irrigated rice field yields. Historically, the 1998 El Niño caused about $5 billion in losses to Philippine agriculture and a 6.4% drop in agricultural output that year; the 2010 El Niño caused about 10 billion pesos ($1.265 billion) in losses to Philippine agriculture; and the two El Niños in 2016 and 2019 caused billions of pesos (hundreds of millions of yuan) in losses to Philippine agriculture.
Source: Economic and Commercial Section, Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines
Post time: Apr-11-2023