Call for cloudseeding gets support of Gov. Lacson

The time is good for cloud seeding, Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said today.

Lacson’s statement comes after Rep. Emilio Yulo (5th district) urged the Department of Agriculture (DA), Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), and the provincial government to conduct cloud seeding in the province.

“That is always an option when we have a long drought we always request for cloud seeding,” Lacson pointed out.

The governor noted that there are still clouds and some rainfall.

I am still waiting for a report on the dry spell on our farmlands, he also said.

Cong. Yulo, in a statement on Sunday, urged the concerned government agencies “to prep-up for eventual cloud seeding amidst extreme summer heat.”

“We are in the middle of planting and cultivation particularly in the sugar industry and getting this extreme heat and probably a dry spell in the coming weeks will have a drastic effect in our agriculture,” Yulo said.

As such, he is making an appeal to the DA, the SRA and the province to “come up with a plan and start preparing for scheduled cloud-seeding to ensure that our industry will not suffer from this extreme weather condition.’

Yulo said that efforts are being done to ensure the sugar industry increases its productivity after a low output in the last crop year than in the past.

“We need to make sure that these efforts will not go to waste because we are not prepared to combat the effects of a dry spell which is totally beyond the control of our farmers,” Yulo said.* (EYA/APT)