Agriculture Business Week

Environmentalist Dr. Angelina Galang talks about the effects of climate change to agriculture and suggests ways on how to mitigate the problem

The heat rages, the floods intensify, winters become more severe and tsunamis and strong earthquakes are damaging properties and lives in practically all corners of the world. What’s happening here? Nature is finally unleashing its wrath and world leaders are getting more alarmed.

Scientists say the causes of our sick climate are both natural and man-made. The natural causes of climate change are continental drift, volcanoes, the earth’s tilt, and ocean currents. On the other hand, our changes and wrong practices in land use pattern, deforestation, land clearing, agriculture and other activities like the dumping of tons of millions of garbage and smoke belching have led to a rise in the emission of carbon dioxide, contributing to the so called changes in greenhouse gas concentration.

(more…)

Seven months after the Philippines was inundated by fierce typhoons, the country is again earning climate change’s another fury. The intense heat of El Nino phenomenon or prolonged dry spell—has not only been drying up farmlands nationwide but also creating power shortage which results to eight-to-twelve hour daily blackouts in Mindanao and frequent electricity shutdowns in Luzon and Visayas. The high temperature has also significantly reduced water supply in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

As early as July 2009, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pag-asa) has predicted that El Nino will again strike back the following year, adding that the impact would not be as great as that of 1998 when the freak weather phenomenon created havoc among industries, most notably the agriculture sector.  Though Pag-asa sees a weak-to-moderate strength of El Nino, it already advised the farming sector to plan their planting period and implement mitigation measures against possible adverse outcome.

Estimates by government agencies reveal that El Nino damages could reach PHP20 billion and as of April 7, losses are already standing at PHP9.5 billion. Citing the latest report from the National Disaster Coordinating Council, about 753,606 hectares of lands had been affected, with an equivalent production loss of 685,485 tonnes, including 300,000 tonnes of paddy rice (palay) production.

(more…)

Using a range of weather data driven tools, ICRISAT’s crop modelers, GIS experts, crop physiologists and plant breeders in May 2008 initiated research to test the hypothesis that in the medium term (2010- 2050), ICRISAT is well placed to help farmers mitigate the challenges and exploit the opportunities that are posed by climate change.

The ex ante analyses indicates that:
• Climate change will modify the length of the growing period across the regions of interest, but that this can in large part be mitigated by the re-targeting and redeployment of existing germplasm.
• Predicted temperature increases, through their effect of increasing the rate ot crop development, have greater negative impacts on crop production than relatively small (+1- 10%) changes in rainfall.

(more…)

Economic diversification
Economic diversification to increase the economic resilience of and to reduce reliance on vulnerable sectors is crucial. Reducing dependence on climate-sensitive resources is an important adaptation strategy that must be promoted. Improved food security through crop diversification. developing local food banks for people and livestock, and improving local food preservation need to be encouraged.

Database of adaptation options
Given the diversity of agro-ecological zones and their inherent problems, it is also essential to assemble, document and disseminate a comprehensive and action-oriented database of adaptation options of different farming and livelihood systems and agro-ecological. zones.

Access to credit and crop insurance
Since farmers are often constrained by access to credit, policies that enable better access to credit (micro-finance) and agricultural inputs in order to intensify integrated production systems need attention. Catastrophic or weather-risk insurance and index insurance (insurance linked to a particular index such as rainfall, humidity, or crop yields rather than actual loss) can be used as new climate risk management tools in developing countries.
(more…)

THE VULNERABILITY OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
While economic growth and development are priorities in all countries, the needs in developing and least developed countries are on a different scale altogether than those in the developed world. Developing countries are constrained by their particular vulnerability to the impacts of climate variability. The poor in these countries are also at higher risks to both current and future climate change impacts, given their high dependence on agriculture, strong reliance on ecosystem services, rapid growth and concentration of human and livestock populations and relatively poor health services.

In fact, about 99% of the casualties due to the vagaries of climate take place in the developing world. As a result of global warming, the type, frequency and intensity of extreme events, such as tropical cyclones, floods, droughts and heavy precipitation events are expected to rise even with relatively small average temperature increases. New climate studies show that extreme heat waves are very likely to become common in the tropics and subtropics by century’s end. Add to this gloomy scenario insufficient capacity to adapt to future climate change impacts, inadequate infrastructure, meager household income and savings and the limited supporting public services and you have a veritable time bomb in the offing.

CLIMATE CHANGE GOES AGAINST THE GRAIN
Climate change is already inevitable, but in the absence of robust adaptation strategies will almost certainly exacerbate food insecurity. Millions of people in countries that already have food security problems will have to give up traditional crops and agricultural methods as they experience changes in the nature of the seasons, for which, over time, they have developed coping strategies that have enabled them to survive. Given the fact that two billion people already live in the driest parts of the globe, where climate change is projected to reduce yields even further, the challenge of putting enough food in nine billion mouths by 2050 is daunting!

(more…)

US Secretary Thomas James Vilsack of the Department of Agriculture (USDA), US Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney, and their delegation were briefed on how rice science can work in ensuring rice supply even in changing climatic conditions. Their visit at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) on October 25 is part of the 5-day USDA Trade and Investment Mission in the Philippines.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, IRRI Director General Robert Zeigler, and PhilRice Executive Director Ronilo Beronio and their respective staff members received the US officials.

The US officials observed rice research prospects in climate change scenarios. IRRI and PhilRice presented four major research areas for climate change that they have mapped-out. The two institutes hope to jointly scale up their progress made in climate change adaptation and mitigation for greater impact.

(more…)

Farmers were urged to take measures to lessen the effects of El Niño on crops and livestock, especially when the dry spell intensifies in the coming months.

Engr. Ric Oblena and Angel Enriquez, regional executive director and regional technical director respectively of the Department of Agriculture in Central Visayas (DA-7) made the call during the recent livestock and poultry planning workshop attended by around 50 livestock commodity coordinators and provincial counterparts at the Ubay Stock Farm in Ubay, Bohol.

Oblena said one of the things that farmers can do is to make silage, a technology in which forage grasses are fermented for future use by livestock animals. The DA is ready to teach interested farmers on the rudiments of technology.

(more…)

Talk about getting a positive out of something negative.

“Climate change also has a positive effect,” said Dr. Rosa Perez, senior climate specialist of the Regional Climate Systems at the Manila Observatory, in the recent symposium on climate change sponsored by the Philippine Institute of Development Studies.

Dr. Perez talked on the topic, “Climate Change and Policy Responses”. She discussed how this phenomenon has been affecting the Philippines and she presented highlights of the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UN FCC). The country’s Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) are now being modified to include climate change.

(more…)

Climate change, says the World Health Organization (WHO), is a significant and emerging threat to public health, and changes the way we must look at protecting vulnerable populations.

The most recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) confirmed that there is overwhelming evidence that humans are affecting the global climate, and highlighted a wide range of implications for human health.

Climate variability and change cause death and disease through natural disasters such as heat waves, floods, and droughts. Also, many important diseases are highly sensitive to changing temperatures and precipitation. These include common vectorborne diseases such as malaria and dengue, as well as other major killers such as malnutrition and diarrhea.

(more…)

The Philippine fisheries industry consists of the marine fishing, inland fishing and aquaculture sub-sectors. Marine fishing is the catching or harvesting of seawater fishes, invertebrates, and plants of economic importance like the galunggong, halaan, and Sargassum. Inland fishing, on one hand, is the. exploitation of aquatic plants and animals in brackishwater and freshwater areas like rivers, lakes, and Other wetlands. Aquaculture, on the other hand, is the culture or farming of marine brackishwater and freshwater species like the milkfish, tilapia, oysters, and seaweeds.

Our fisheries provide livelihood and income directly to more than a million fisherfolk and fishfarmers, and indirectly to millions of other people. With a contribution of about 5 percent to the country’s gross domestic product, fish and other fishery products supply the bulk of the animal protein in the diet of our more than 90 million population.

The excessive accumulation of carbon dioxide and other so-called “greenhouse gases” in the atmosphere mainly from industrial and agricultural activities has markedly increased the average temperature of the earth’s surface. Such a phenomenon has resulted in global warming or climate change that has brought about extreme climatic events as prolonged droughts (El Ninos), devastating typhoons, and catastrophic floods in many regions of the world including our country.

(more…)

Mitigating the adverse effects of climate on fruit production is the subject of an interesting article of Dr. Pablito P. Pamplona.

Dr. Pamplona, of course, is the fruit expert who retired earlier from the University of Southern Mindanao in Kabacan, North Cotabato, and now managing his own fruit farm and nursery.

He writes that production of pummelo, longkong lanzones, durian, mangosteen and rambutan in Mindanao has been adversely affected by the climate change that started in 2007. Climate change, he said, brought about unpredictable occurrence of long and heavy rains accompanied by strong winds not previously experienced in Mindanao. One time, it’s a prolonged period of light rains followed by a short dry spell, like what happened in 2007. The short dry period was not long enough to trigger profuse flowering of the trees and that was the reason why there was a shortfall in production.

(more…)

Topnotch poultry and livestock equipment supplier Belmont is promoting the use of a new climate control technology to optimize the growth of chicken while generating power savings of up to 70 percent.

The technology involves a combi-tunnel ventilation system designed specifically for regions with heavy daily or seasonal temperature variations.

The system works by taking in fresh air through wall inlets, thus entailing minimum ventilation to remove the excess moisture and heat of the animals.

“Though it’s still in the exploratory stage, the combi-tunnel ventilation is perfect for subtropical and tropical countries like the Philippines. The combi-tunnel technology integrates various ventilation principles into a single intelligent system. It ensures optimum conditions for the chickens by letting ventilation depend on the outdoor temperature, humidity and the age of the animals,” said Belmont’s marketing manager Tony Magno.

(more…)

The potential impacts of climate change on Philippine agriculture were presented in a seminar by Dr. Ma. Victoria Espaldon of the UP Los Baños School of Environmental Science during the 5th Agriculture and Fisheries Technology Commercialization Forum and Exhibit on 27-30 August 2009. The activity was spearheaded by the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR).

Dr. Espaldon noted that there has been a steady increase in global surface temperature brought about by the greenhouse effect. The increase in temperature of the planet is causing the polar ice caps to melt causing sea levels to rise and the habitat of arctic animals like walruses to disappear.

In the local context, the Philippines is also experiencing increase in temperature, sea level rise, extreme events like heavy rains during summer and stronger typhoons. Agriculture is the most affected by climate change. Heat stress, excessive rainfall, soil erosion and water shortage have decreased crop harvests as well as livestock production. New patterns of diseases have also emerged.

(more…)

Instead of becoming victims of climate change, the country’s fisherfolk can adapt to this unwanted phenomenon even to their own advantage.

This is the objective behind the many technologies that the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) will showcase in the forthcoming Agrilink, Foodlink and Aqualink, the country’s biggest and most prestigious annual international trade show on agribusiness, food and aquaculture.

BFAR Director Malcolm Sarmiento said his agency, with the help of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and the Department of Agriculture, was embarking on a campaign that would educate the public on how to take advantage of climate change.

(more…)