PHILIPPINES (5 February)
The main corps in the ground are the dry season rice (planted in October-December) and maize, which is due for harvest starting from April through May. In most parts of the country, crop conditions are generally normal. In western Luzon, western Visayas and south-western Mindanao however, crops are suffering from moisture deficiency.
Estimates for 2003 paddy rice output have been maintained at 13.5 million tonnes, up by 500 000 tonnes from the previous year, reflecting both government efforts to expand cultivation during the second half of the year to recoup the earlier losses related to EI Niņo, and increased use of hybrid and higher-yielding varieties by farmers. Paddy rice production target for 2004 is set at 15 million tonnes, some 11 percent higher than that in 2003 and it is planned to achieve this through distribution of high-yielding seeds.
Landslides, triggered by heavy monsoon rains last month, left 154 people dead in Southern Leyte while another 20 people died on the island of Mindanao and 150 000 people affected overall. Infrastructure, agriculture and property were damaged seriously. Some 3 000 people are still in urgent need of shelter and access to clean water after heavy landslides buried their homes in the country last month.