DENR to ARMM farmers: Stop ‘kaingin’ amid drought

COTABATO CITY—The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has warned farmers in Maguindanao province against slash-and-burn farming (kaingin) in the middle of the El Niño phenomenon.

Kahal Kedtag, DENR-ARMM secretary, said the kaingin method of farming is more destructive and dangerous now because the province is experiencing the peak of the El Niño phenomenon.

The drought has already taken its toll on residents and crops, hurting the island’s food production.

“The slash-and-burn kind of farming will worsen the situation of our environment,” Kedtag said of the farming system, which he said is being practiced in upland and far-flung towns in Maguindanao.

Slash and burn is an agricultural technique where natural vegetation is cut down and burned to create fields for cultivation. It is illegal in the Philippines under the Forestry Reform Code of the Philippines of 1975 (PD 705).

Kedtag said his office has sent foresters to areas where kaingin is being practiced “to remind and educate farmers about the danger of this system.”

Kedtag cited recent forest fires that destroyed hundreds of hectares of flora and fauna habitats in Indonesia as an example of the impact of climate change made worse by slash-and-burn farming.

Haze from forest fires in the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan in October last year reached as far as Mindanao, including the Davao region, leading to the cancellation of domestic flights.

“This is no longer allowed, this is illegal,” he said.

He also cited as an example of kaingin destruction the January fires in the mountains of Lanao del Sur, which destroyed hundreds of hectares of forests.

He said some farmers in the upland part of Maguindanao use the kaingin system to clear farm lots ahead of the rainy season.

He admitted that some farmers are unaware of the dangers of kaingin but prefer this system because it is easier, fast and economical.

Kedtag said kaingin is a form of deforestation worse than logging as it destroys all kinds of plants and trees, including animal habitats.

“This is a crime against humanity,” Kedtag said. Edwin O. Fernandez, Inquirer Mindanao