CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (PIA)--In response to the public’s inquiry on the government’s preparedness in countering the coming dry season, Department of Agriculture (DA) Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban assures the public of the current interventions of the DA on strengthening the Philippines’ crop production for the year.

"We started (planting) during January of this year. We were able to plant, at this point in time, about 900,000 hectares all over the country, and these will be harvested," said Panganiban during a press conference at Chali Resort, here, March 21.

DA-10 consultant Joel Rudinas explained that the country is currently in a dry season and that the wet season cropping for rice or ‘palay’ shall begin in May.

 Based on how closely he watches PAG-ASA's forecasts and climate analysis, Rudinas said the dry season is likely to start in late October or November this year and last until February or March of next year.

He emphasized that the climate projections should not be a cause for concern, as the DA is equipped to handle the current forecasts of PAG-ASA on the expected dry season to come.

"We assure the farmers that they will have P6,600 preseeds and P3,500 for fisherfolks and we are providing financial assistance of P5,000 to small farmers this cropping season so that we shall be able to achieve a production level of approximately P7.2 million to P7.3 million cavans of rice," said Panganiban.

DA continues to actively monitor the weather phenomena and study the potential impact of the dry season on the costs of crop production. (TAAG/PIA-10)