The Cauayan municipal government will decide this week whether to declare a state of calamity, after the locality reported P66 million in agricultural damage due to drought triggered by the El Niño phenomenon.

Mayor John Rey Tabujara said the local government unit is coordinating with Sangguniang Bayan members, as well as local and national government agencies to finalize the action they should take.

They are also conducting an inventory to determine how many farmers are affected by the drought.

Cauayan recorded P66,139,789 in crop damage, according to a report from the Negros Occidental Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA).

The drought has affected 1,130 rice farmers and 562.48 hectares of farmland in 20 barangays.

Earlier, OPA reported that crop damage due to drought in Negros Occidental reached P197,153,844.

It said the dry weather caused P192.2 million in losses to rice crops, and P4.9 million in damage to corn.

It affected 3,752.94 hectares of cultivated land in 195 barangays.

A total of 5,125 farmers in 25 cities and municipalities in the province have been affected./WDJ