Stakeholders in Ilocos Norte have shared in the task to help cushion the impact of the dry spell on farmers and fisherfolks, who have started to enroll in the master list of the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBA).

In Laoag, the rural farming villages have received various agricultural inputs such as early-maturing varieties of vegetables and hybrid corn seeds, bio-fertilizers, tilapia fingerlings, fish feeds, and livestock as livelihood assistance.

“We continue to extend assistance to our farmers and fisherfolks as we brace for the effects of the climate phenomenon,” Laoag City agriculturist engineer Sheila Marie Opelac said in an interview Wednesday.

Opelac said the city government has partnered with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for the provision of skills training for the locals to generate alternative sources of livelihood.

In the farming village of Saoit in Burgos town, village officials have set up a communal pressure tank, water pumps, and hose for the village’s mini water system just in case their main source of water gets depleted.

The Provincial Resiliency Office has been in consultation with farmer associations to discuss various measures to mitigate El Niño’s impact.

“We have been in continuous discussions with the Department of Agriculture, Provincial Agriculture Office, Sustainable Development Council, and the Ilocos Norte Water District to come up with a harmonized intervention to save on water and energy, among others,” Marcel Tabije, head of the provincial resiliency office, said.

Tabije said a provincial water summit is also in the pipeline to create an action plan to address the abnormal weather.

According to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), El Niño increases the likelihood of below-normal rainfall conditions, which could bring negative impacts such as dry spells and droughts in some areas of the country.

PAGASA forecasts the phenomenon to last until May this year. (PNA)