• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Dry spell due to El Niño has brought P14.4 million worth of damage to rice crops in seven local government units of Negros Occidental.
Some 383 farmers in 43 barangays were affected, data of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) showed.
Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Wednesday that the Department of Agriculture-Western Visayas (DA-6) is now studying the possibility of conducting cloud seeding operations.
He said that in previous years, the DA-6 has provided a plane to conduct cloud seeding operations while the provincial government provided the manpower and the materials.
According to state weather bureau Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, Negros Occidental will be among the provinces to be hit by drought from March to May this year.
“We have to take advantage of the clouds that are present,” Lacson said.
The provincial government is also extending financial assistance of P2,500 each to affected farmers in Negros Occidental.
Acting Provincial Agriculturist Dina Genzola has been directed by Lacson to come up with a list of farmers affected by the dry spell.
Those badly affected are farmers whose rice fields are dependent on rains, but those with irrigated rice fields are still okay, Lacson said. | GB
