• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The rainy season is about to start, yet the Department of Agriculture is still considering whether or not it will conduct cloud seeding operations in Western Visayas.
DA assistant regional director Engr. Jose Albert Barrogo, yesterday said that they are now lobbying for a P6 million allocation from the DA central office in Manila, through regional director Dennis Arpia.
Barrogo said they have monitored seedable clouds in Negros Occidental that can be enhanced to cause rains.
The Negros Association of Chief Executives, led by Victorias City Mayor Javier Miguel Benitez, earlier passed a resolution requesting the DA to immediately conduct cloud seeding operations in Negros Occidental, in order to promptly and adequately address the massive and extensive drought caused by the El Niño weather phenomenon.
While there have been rains recently in various parts of Negros Occidental, Barrogo said “it is still below normal, based on the forecast of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).”
“The rain may still not be enough for the parched agricultural lands affected by the ongoing drought in the province,” he pointed out.
Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson last week met with DA officials in Western Visayas to discuss the possibility of cloud seeding operations in the province, the meeting also attended by representatives of National Irrigation Administration, Sugar Regulatory Administration, Bureau of Soils and Water Management, and Office of the Provincial Agriculturist, among others.
As of last week, the drought has destroyed P535.6 million worth of crops and livestock in Negros Occidental.*
