DA expands climate info system to aid farmers, fishers

MANILA, Philippines —  The Department of Agriculture (DA) is expanding its climate information system across all regions with the adoption of the Agro-Climatic Advisory Portal (ACAP) to help farmers and fisherfolk cope with weather disturbances.

The ACAP is a new digital tool developed and piloted by the DA through its Climate Resilient Agriculture Office in the Bicol Region. It is an online web portal capable of “automatically generating and disseminating climate information services” such as climate- and weather-informed farming and fishing advisories, the DA said.

“All concerned are hereby directed to implement the expansion of climate information services across all regions,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said in Department Order 9.

The DA regional field offices were instructed to develop their own ACAP that would be integrated to the central ACAP-Philippines portal “for better coordination and dissemination” of advisories especially in preparation for the onset of La Niña and other climate-related risks.

Tiu Laurel noted that the ACAP would help the department in managing future agricultural losses due to extreme climatic conditions since farmers and fisherfolk would be equipped with advanced information regarding weather and climate situations.

The DA noted that the number of climate-related threats to the agriculture sector has been rising in recent years. It said that the average number of destructive typhoons has increased to nine every year from eight.

Furthermore, the DA said the annual average production losses due to climate hazards have increased to P30 billion between 2013 and 2022 from P29 billion in 2010 to 2019.

The department emphasized that the rice sector remains as one of the agriculture sectors greatly affected by climate hazards, resulting in rising food prices and food insecurity.