P15M fund eyed to address El Niño’s impact in province

A P15 million fund is being eyed to address the impact to the farms of the El Niño phenomenon expected to hit Negros Occidental.

Provincial agriculturist, Dr. Edmund Causing, said an El Niño Task Force was created based on the advice of the Department of Agriculture.

The Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) has been going around different local government units with vast farm lands to prepare them for the dry spell.

Causing added that OPA personnel also talked with palay farmers to listen to their concerns so that the provincial government can help them prepare for the phenomenon.

Earlier, Engr. Jose Albert Barrog, OIC regional director of the DA in Western Visayas said they will reactivate the Regional Task Force El Niño created in 2018 to 2019 and revisit and update the action plan that was prepared during the dry spell to be submitted to the central office.

DA data showed that 153,000 or 35 percent of the 436,000 hectares planted with palay were vulnerable to the dry spell that was experienced from 2018 to 2019.

Barrogo said that 125,000 hectares were vulnerable in the dry season and 27,000 hectares in the wet season.

The task force will also preposition seed reserves, planting materials, drugs and biologics, and pesticides; and have an inventory and pre-position water pump and engines where they can be used.

The DA will also provide fuel subsidies, planting materials that are of drought-tolerant varieties, fertilizers and soil ameliorants.

Barrogo added that one action being considered for vulnerable areas is the cloud seeding being handled by the Bureau of Soils Water Management.

Palay farmers within the vulnerable areas are advised to shift to other crops.

“Our focus is to identify vulnerable and non-vulnerable areas so we can at least be prepared. We will try to increase the production in non-vulnerable areas to cope with the losses from vulnerable areas,” he added.

Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said he is supporting the call of 5th District Rep. Emilio Yulo for cloud seeding operations in the agricultural areas in the province especially the sugar plantations.

Lacson said cloud seeding is one of the options to alleviate the dry condition, pointing out there is still cloud cover and some areas are even experiencing rainfall.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) last week announced that the probability of an El Niño occurrence has increased from 55 percent to 80 percent in June, July, August, and September.
The probability of an El Niño occurrence in November, December, and January is 87 percent.

With this, the Pagasa is poised to issue an El Niño Alert next month.

El Niño is characterized by unusually warmer than average sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific.

As an effect, below-normal rains are expected, which can cause dry spells and droughts in several areas of the country.* (EYAdiong)