THE climate pattern La Niña, which started to exhale its impact on the Philippines in the latter part of 2024, is expected to persist during the first quarter of 2025.
Meaning, this basically agricultural country will have extreme weather events that could cause extensive agricultural damage and worsen food security conditions.
In layman’s term, the Philippines, which has been having rain showers every afternoon, may experience a higher chance of thunderstorms and tropical cyclone occurrence.
This means La Niña may bring above normal rainfall over some parts of the country during the quarter, with adverse impacts like floods and landslides over vulnerable areas.
Given these possibilities we look at the gross production value in the Agriculture market which is projected to amount to US$29.42-b in 2025, with the annual growth rate of 0.34 percent expected in 2025-2029, resulting in gross production value of US$29.82-b in 2029.
We know that agriculture, a major sector in the Philippine economy, is ranked third, behind only services and industry and is rapidly evolving as global demands rise and climate challenges intensify..
Its output includes staples like rice and corn as well as export crops like coffee, cavendish banana, pineapple and pineapple products, coconut, sugar and mango.
Experts have said from precision agriculture and vertical farming to genetic engineering and robotics, cutting-edge technologies are reshaping the future of farming, promising greater sustainability, efficiency and profitability.
One thing known is that climate change has made weather as a result of La Niña more extreme, and this may increase risks of flooding, especially in low-lying agricultural zones.
But the above normal rainfall conditions from January to March due to La Niña conditions may adversely affect the country’s agricultural muscle.
With above normal rainfall conditions, experts say the challenges the Philippines will face include soil degradation, deforestation, and natural disasters.
These are environmental and climate change issues that can harm the sustainability and quality of food products. As a result, fresh and healthy food options may become less available, which can impact consumers.
Many have pointed out that farmers must meet the changing needs of our planet and the expectations of regulators, consumers, and food processors and retailers.
There are increasing pressures from climate change, soil erosion and biodiversity loss and from consumers’ changing tastes in food and concerns about how it is produced.
We are glad the government, recognizing that climate change is essentially a global crisis, has enacted the Climate Change Act which provides the policy framework with which to systematically address the growing threats on community life and its impact on the environment as well as agriculture.