In the dubbed ‘Rice Granary of the Philippines’ and a melting pot of rich agricultural resources, what you reap is not exactly what you sow—especially during the recently concluded El Niño season.
Nueva Ecija is considered among the hard hits of the extreme heat this year—a setback that extended until the fields in one of its agricultural towns—Aliaga.
Experiencing the heat stress' heavy blow, the landlocked town of Aliaga is considered one of the municipalities in the province that suffered excessively from this year’s drought season, according to the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) Nueva Ecija.
Their farmers plant grain in hopes of rice seedlings and crops, eventually anticipating three-month worth of harvest, yet what they sow is P100 million worth of agricultural loss this year, and if combined since 2023, a staggering P305 million is the utmost consequence.
As an agri-centric area comprised of 70% agricultural land, the arrival of El Niño has become an unwelcome visitor for many farmers, fisherfolks, and agri-related businesses in the town as its arrival is equivalent to agricultural setbacks, leaving their businesses with no choice but to endure its catastrophic effects.
Thus, this poses an early risk on how the granary itself cannot dodge the bullet of the heat wave, leaving the town and its farmers in constant turmoil—‘How can we make it this year?
A Constant Visitor and Its ‘Unwanted’ Present
The severe heat experienced in the Philippines during the entry of El Niño in June 2023 and its peak this year became alarming. With the skyrocketing temperature in the first quarter of 2024 until its final stretch that ended on June 7, its repercussions escalated—affecting the majority of Filipinos in their households, livelihood, and daily activities.
As defined by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), El Niño is a natural recurring weather phenomenon where unusual warmer sea surface temperatures are observed in the east-central equatorial Pacific. This weather pattern also increases the chance of below-normal rainfall conditions that lead to droughts or dry spells.
Additionally, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) named 2023-2024 El Niño as one of the five strongest on record, contributing to the rising global temperature, the extreme heat felt across the planet, and human-induced climate change.
This explains the drought condition experienced in majority of the fields in the country—making El Niño a common visitor that farmers and fisherfolk leave unentertained, as its blazing wrath leaves a 'present' that comes at a hefty price and causes deep-rooted damages.
For this year's visit, the Department of Agriculture (DA) revealed in their latest and final report in May 2024 that the ripple effects of El Niño have brought P9.5 billion worth of losses and damages to the Philippine agricultural sector, devastating 163,694 hectares of land across 13 regions in the country.
Based on the report, palay or rice crops remain the most affected commodity during the El Niño season with a whopping P4.6 billion worth of damages.
From the 163,694 hectares affected, figures from DA showed that the volume of agricultural production losses nationwide climbed to 426,798 metric tons (MT), hence leaving 175,063 Filipino farmers and fisherfolk devastated.
In Central Luzon, one of the centers of agriculture in the country, impacts of El Niño were not heavily felt, said Dr. Lowell Rebillaco, Rice Program Coordinator and DA Central Luzon Office Focal Person.
Rebillaco stated that the region’s agriculture sector remains thriving and self-sufficient despite the presence of El Niño this year, emphasizing that it is not greatly affected even though there are records of losses and damages in the sector.
He also added that Central Luzon was able to plant 389,720.37 hectares of land in its seven provinces. This is almost 7,000 hectares higher than its actual target of 382,360 hectares this season.
However, due to insufficient water irrigation in rice, corn, and high-value crops, DA recorded a total of 4,404 affected land hectares in the provinces of Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, and Tarlac; 2,889 of which are partially damaged, while 1,515 hectares are totally damaged.
Overall, this constitutes a volume loss of 12,174.93 MT or around 0.33% of the total regional production, which is equivalent to P386.96 million estimated value loss—with rice being the most affected with P290.45 million (11,376.33 MT) loss.
On the one hand, the province of Nueva Ecija, a rich resource of rice products in the country, also incurred losses in terms of rice and high-value crops, with a total damaged area of 2,652.89 hectares and 25.06 hectares, respectively.
This sums up to a volume loss of 5,045.56 MT and a value loss of P130.91 million for rice crops, while 206.80 MT with P6.2 million estimated value loss for the high-value ones.
Still, Rebillaco asserted that these amounts remain “insignificant figures” and did not greatly impact the agricultural production of Central Luzon and Nueva Ecija as they only accounted for a small percentage of the region's overall metric ton production during the previous El Niño season.
However, with all these findings, the situation in Aliaga, Nueva Ecija says otherwise—where the entry of El Niño further worsened their problem with water supply, hence resulting in a domino effect on their town's agricultural state.
Aliaga amid drought and water shortage
“Kung walang tubig, hindi makakasaka,” said Engr. John Lerry Bautista, Acting Municipal Agriculturist of Aliaga Municipal Agriculture Office (MAO) as he quoted the words of Aliaga Mayor Gilbert Moreno on their town's agriculture situation.
Situated at the tail end of Nueva Ecija, 70% of Aliaga’s land serves as an agricultural field. According to the latest record of the Philippine Atlas, Aliaga constitutes 1.58% of the province’s total land area of 90.04 kilometers. With this, 80% of their population heavily relies on agriculture as their primary livelihood.
Painting the picture, Bautista stated that the town started to feel the effects of El Niño when the Pantabangan Dam water level declined after hitting 177-meter critical level during the first quarter of the year. In fact, its water elevation tipped175.97 to 179.97 meters in March and April, eventually hitting 174.75 meters in May.
This reveals that it was not only the exceedingly hot temperatures that the farmers of Aliaga had to endure but also the long-term consequences of the drought, adding that over P100 million was the estimated loss of Aliaga due to El Niño this year and more than P305 million since it started in 2023.
According to the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA), a sector providing subsidies from DA to local farmers, Aliaga has 1559.45 registered hectares.
Yet during an interview with Bautista, he revealed that almost 2,900 hectares, or around 35% of their total land area, were greatly affected by El Niño and had no rice production during the 2023-2024 dry season due to the insufficient water from Pantabangan Dam.
“Ibig sabihin, hindi pa lang naka-register yung iba. Ngayon, meron kaming na-identify na 2,130 individual famers na registered sa RSBSA na affected.” he said.
Moreover, Bautista revealed that 100 cavans of palay were their expected harvest count per hectare, but they recorded that over 2,100 hectares were heavily devastated in their area, especially those excluded from the programmed irrigation of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA). Thus, accounting for more than P305 million production loss.
Majority of these affected hectares reside in the tail-end areas of Division II, such as the barangays of Betes, San Carlos, Sunson, Bibiclat, and a portion of Bucot. These locations are not well-irrigated since 2021, Bautista said.
According to Mayor Moreno, even before El Niño came, Aliaga already faced problems with irrigation.
“Nag-worsen lang dahil sa El Niño pero bago pa ‘yan ay nakikita ko na talagang kulang talaga ng tubig. Meron kaming nasa 2,000 hectares yung hindi namin nataniman,” he said.
This resulted in some farmers opting to divert from rice farming, choosing to plant crops that need less water to grow, such as onion crops which Division II is most prominent in producing.
Moreno added that DA provides subsidiaries twice a year to the town but is inefficient in aiding the slowing economy of the municipality as the problem still centers on the scarcity of water, “Dahil source of income sa Aliaga ang pagtatanim, yung 100 million na loss ay sana pwede nang ipang-gastos sa pagkain, grocery, gamit ng mga farmers.”
Harvests in Peril, Farmers in Pain
“Magtanim ay 'di biro, maghapong nakaupo...”
The popular Filipino folk song indeed deeply resonated with the farmers in Aliaga, Nueva Ecija who toiled all day amidst the sweltering El Niño heat, sowing seeds and crops in hopes of a good harvest this season.
However, for them, this year's dry season became a threat to their livelihood. This problem was topped by the scarcity of water irrigation supply in the majority of the rice fields in Aliaga, which further exacerbated the farmers’ challenges with crop failures and yield reductions.
As per the town's local rice farmers, the El Niño phenomenon, toppled by the lack of water, left devastating impacts not just on their crop yield, but their income as well. These two are their “enemies,” they say.
“Mahina po kami kapag ganyang El Niño. Talo po kaming nagsasaka, gano’n na rin po yung namumuhunan,” Resty Garcia, a farmer for 12 years said.
According to Garcia, in the farm area they cultivated this dry cropping season, they harvested 29 sacks and earned an income of P29,000. This is way below their principal capital of P50,000 per hectare—hence a big loss for their farming business.
“Hindi pa rin sapat ‘yung 40 na kaban sa isang hektarya. Talo ‘yung gumastos, mas talo ‘yung nagsasaka,” said Garcia, citing that only 29 sacks of palay were yielded out of their 40 targeted sacks per hectare.
The experience of Renato Medrano and Jemer Villa is not any different from Garcia's. They asserted that the extreme heat had caused their production yield to decline as their palay crops wilted.
“Nitong tag-init na ‘to, naranasan namin na para bang ‘yung palay ay nagkasakit, nahirapan sumapaw—‘yung walang laman na butil,” shared Medrano who works on the 12-hectare rice field of his in-laws.
According to Medrano, they initially estimated that they would harvest 100 sacks of palay per hectare during the recently concluded dry season. However, their expectations wilted as well because they only harvested 30 sacks in a hectare.
Due to this, they only earned approximately ₱30,000 during the harvest season last April out of their capital of ₱25,000—a fruit of labor that did not compensate for their three months of hard work in the field.
Medrano then stressed that due to the limited volume and poor quality of palay they have produced, they just opted to use the majority of their harvest for their family’s consumption instead of selling it to rice retailers or to what they call “dayuhan” customers who buy their products.
“Hindi na namin binenta, ginawa na lang naming pagkain. Kahit matalo kami sa gastos, [ang] mahalaga may pagkain,” said Medrano.
Meanwhile, Villa, a farmer for 21 years, affirmed that lack of water irrigation is indeed one of the major setbacks brought by the dry spell. This caused them to lose their profit tenfold as they were only able to reap 30 out of the 140 rice bags that should have been harvested per hectare in their field.
Under the scorching sun, Jemer Villa, 37, demonstrates how he fixes the lone and rusty irrigation pump in their field using the sticky mud.
“Walang irrigation, ‘di abot dito. Kaya walang inani ang mga ‘yan. Lugi lahat,” he stated.
As per his estimation, they lost around 400 sacks of rice last harvest period, which they could have sold for P1,600 per bag.
Bautista, the town's agriculturist, believes that these agricultural losses leave economic implications both in Aliaga and the Philippines’ overall economy.
Rice Price Check
Rice is the Philippines’ staple food. Its production became an important aspect of the food supply and economy of the country as it placed eighth as the largest rice producer in the world, with 2.8% of global rice production according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
With this big of a number, Nueva Ecija, as the rice granary of the country plays a huge role in ensuring the country is fed.
Yet in Aliaga, Bautista noted that its maximum capacity to produce rice is only 65%, saying that per household may or may not consume five kilos each.
With this, he recalled how President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos’ set a ceiling price on rice from P44 to P45 greatly affected the farmers and retailers not just in Aliaga, but in other provinces as well.
“Merong iba, sumunod sila pero ‘yun yung low class natin na bigas. Talagang yung iba, hindi na nakasunod. Kaya yung iba d’yan, nagsarado ng tindahan kasi hindi nila kayang ibaba yung presyo kasi malaki yung naging pondo nila,” the municipal agriculturist stressed.
Currently, Aliaga’s cheapest price falls at P50 per kilo while the average price is at P62.
Moreover, as Nueva Ecija is known to supply rice to markets nationwide, Lolita Asuncion, a rice vendor at Kamuning Market corroborated the said price increase. At the stall where she works, the cheapest kilo of rice costs P50 while the most expensive kind is P65.
When asked how they strategize on their pricing rate, she answered “Depende sa klase. Pinakamababa yung nasa 1 to 2k plus ganyan. ‘Yun na yung pinaka-mababa. Per 25 kilos lang ‘yun.”
Their stall gets their supply from both local and imported suppliers namely, Nueva Ecija, Raglan, Mindoro, Thailand, and Vietnam. According to Asuncion, their resupply schedule depends on how fast consumerism is, “Yung karamihan dati, nakakapag-per sack pa sila. Ngayon, kilo-kilo na lang.”
She added that the price increase is seasonal and it all depends on the supply.
However, as the price increases, the quality of the produced rice declines. As described by Asuncion, the rice quality became dusty especially this past dry season, almost as if the rice was crushed—a downgrade that was also noted by the customers.
The same goes for Aliaga’s rice produce, as described by Bautista, Brown Plant Hoppers (BPH) seep on the stem of the palay, interrupting and eventually stopping the grain from growing as edible rice. He added, “Instead na umani kasi may supply tayo d’yan (ng bigas), edi d’yan bibili dapat yung residents. Ang nangyari, bumibili pa tayo sa iba.”
Aliaga and Kamuning Market fall under the same cycle as the local produce in Manila is much more expensive than imported ones.
Asuncion’s working place sells rice ranging from P1,300 pesos to P1,500, while imported rice falls at 1, 480 pesos.
Further, she noted that consumers found difficulties with the continuing increase in price, saying, “Ang nahihirapan yung may-ari ng tindahan dahil siya nga ang namumuhunan [pero] mas nahihirapan yung mga mamimili kasi sila yung kakain, sila yung gagastos.”
This explains the law of supply and demand as per Rebillaco where as an example, he noted that some regions may have low sufficient levels or the failure to supply rice to other regions like how Regions 1, 2, and 3 do.
“Nakakapag-supply kami into other regions kasi sobra yung production namin to feed the whole population in our region pero kapag kulang din yung supply namin to meet the demand, that was the time na kailangan natin mag-import.”
He noted that it is a domino effect. Once the rice production declines, supply will decrease, and the demand will further increase. Thus, this can be identified as a stronghold of why its price continuously skyrockets.
“Sa law of supply and demand, kapag mataas ang demand, mababa yung supply, tumataas talaga yung presyo natin ng palay,” he expounded.
Additionally, Rebillaco said that rice importation is a decision called by policymakers and chief executives of the government once the production rate drops.
Battling El Niño’s Wrath
In the face of recurring El Niño heat, which caused farming livelihood challenges, crop failures, and water shortages, both the national government and the local government of Aliaga aimed to alleviate and battle the devastating impacts the dry season brought to the agricultural sector.
It was reported that DA has provided P8.59 billion worth of financial assistance to the affected farmers across the country as well as aid for production support amounting to P658.22 million.
Meanwhile, DA Central Luzon has also taken proactive measures to mitigate El Niño’s wrath as well as recover the damages in the region by closely monitoring the factors affecting the agriculture sector.
Rebillaco further added that the department also provided P3.42 million in crop insurance and cash indemnity among 216 affected farmers in Nueva Ecija and Aurora around March and April, while a total of P25.012 million for 2,988 farmers in the remaining provinces of Central Luzon.
In Aliaga, Bautista said that their municipality distributed free palay seeds to their farmers after receiving supply from the national government during the onset of El Niño this year, which Villa, Garcia, and Medrano received and stated how it somehow helped their business.
However, Moreno believes that these aids and measures will only be wasted if their farming-reliant town is not well-irrigated.
“May binibigay na binhi, pataba, [at] tsaka may mga ayuda. Walang problema. Ang problema natin d’yan, aanhin ‘yung binhi [kung] walang tubig? Hindi naman magagamit,” the Aliaga Mayor stressed.
Thus, Moreno and Bautista revealed that their local government is currently working on a P35-million-worth solar water pump project that will aid in combating the issue of water supply scarcity in Aliaga.
According to them, the water supply for the said solar pump will come from Talavera River and is enough to irrigate at least 800 to 1,000 hectares of land in Aliaga’s tail-end areas, such as the barangays of San Carlos and Bibiclat.
The construction of the said project has already started this year, and they aim to have it operational before the onset of the next dry season. Moreno asserted that if this solar water pump project proves to be effective, they will continue improving it to cover the entire 2,000 hectares in their area that were left unplanted during this year's dry spell.
While the visit of El Niño apparently did not leave significant impacts on the region's agricultural condition, the previous extreme drought equated to an evident ‘drought’ in agri-related businesses in Aliaga, Nueva Ecija—proving indeed that “magtanim ay ‘di biro.”
Hence, Garcia, Medrano, and Villa only hope one thing—to rain blessings over their rice fields this wet season for them to make up for what they lost during the peak of El Niño.
According to them, they started planting again in the last week of June and expect to harvest it around October—another three months of relentless labor in the field, rain or shine, from dawn till dusk.
Additionally, the municipality of Aliaga already started to prepare for the upcoming La Niña season by planting early before the wet season to ensure that they would not be overtaken by strong typhoons, which commonly occur in the last quarter of the year.
Aliaga government, on the one hand, currently has 7,500 sacks of inbred seeds and 2,000 sacks of hybrid seeds from DA, the Rice Competitive Enhancement Fund (RCEF) Program, and PhilRice to be distributed among their rice farmers. Respectively, this is enough to cover 3,500 hectares and 5,700 hectares of field areas, their municipal agriculturist said.
Bautista remains hopeful that Aliaga and its local farmers will recover from the losses and damages they suffered during the past dry season.
“Alam niyo naman na ang mga farmer ay resilient. Alam niyo [na] kahit anong mangyari, naka-ngiti pa rin 'yan. Madapa man 'yan, aahon pa rin siya, magtatanim pa rin siya—kasi alam nila na 'pag hindi sila nagtanim, walang pagkain ang mga mamamayang Pilipino,” Bautista exclaimed.
Artice | Niñajane Ponpon, Lyene Marie Darang
Graphics | Janella Castillo, Niñajane Ponpon, Judy Ann Estil, Yzabelle Jasmine Liwag
Photos | Yzabelle Jasmine Liwag, Judy Ann Estil
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