CITY OF MALOLOS—More than 1,000 farmers and fishermen affected of the recent dry spell brought by El Nino were given P5,000 each worth of cash assistance and support by the Bulacan provincial government.

Gov. Daniel Fernando and Vice Gov. Alexis Castro led the distribution on Tuesday to 1,038 rice farmers in San Miguel and San Rafael towns and to 30 fisher folks in Obando town.
The more than P5.3 million total funds distributed came from the Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Fund of the provincial government, Fernando said. The farmers will also receive bags of fertilizers that would be delivered to their respective houses.
Gloria Carillo, Bulacan provincial agriculture officer said 1,835 hectares of rice farms in the said two towns were stricken by the drought brought by El Nino.

Fernando also provided the farmers and fishermen with family food packs from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
According to the governor, the assistance was only the first of the initiatives of the provincial government. Other help will also be provided to the farmers to help them start planting for the next cropping season that will begin next month, he added.
Alberto Sacdalan, a farmer in San Miguel town said he targets to return to his previous 100-120 cavan harvest per hectare in the next cropping season after harvesting only around 50 cavans in the recent harvest because of the El Nino.