• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Amid the more than P115 million in crop damage brought about by drought, the Negros Occidental provincial government is not yet considering a declaration of state of calamity, Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said.
He said that the province is giving P2,000 financial assistance to each of the 3,312 affected farmers in 153 barangays of 22 local government units.
The Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM), which is supervised by the Department of Agriculture (DA), denied the request of Negros Occidental officials to conduct cloudseeding operations in the province due to lack of viable clouds and moisture.
“What we can do is ask if the conditions have changed,” Lacson said.
BSWM also said that induced rains may affect 20,659 mango trees in fruit development in San Carlos City and 2,752 more trees in Guimaras.
Negros Occidental Fifth District Rep. Emilio Bernardino Yulo has enlisted the help of Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrellla III to help convince Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. to conduct cloudseeding operations in Negros Occidental. | GB
