Modified aircraft spread the substances used for cloud seeding. Reuters
Thousands of hectares of agricultural lands in Negros and Zamboanga city are in need of cloud seeding operation.
Based on the assessment of the bureau of soil and water management (BWSM), 20,000 of the 100,000 hectares of sugarcane plantations in Negros are already affected by the dry season.
It is also feared that the sugar production will also be affected by insufficient irrigation.
“There are standing crops there which are really affected by the drought. It was evident based on measuring rainfall monitoring equipment. There really has been no rainfall for the past months,” said BWSM project staff Michael Alexix Nota.
Zamboanga City was already placed under a state of calamity because of the drought’s extensive damage on the city’s agriculture which reached 129 million pesos based on data last month.
The drought has affected about 8,700 hectares of rice, corn, banana, cassava and rubber plantations of which 2,300 farmers depended on for livelihood.
Potable water is being rationed in the city because of its insufficiency.
BWSM project staff Corazon Ditarro said, “We cannot avoid cases wherein clouds are not confined in an area because we have so many factors. We have the strength of the wind and its direction.”
According to BWSM, the 60-hour cloud seeding operation will cost 3 to 4 million pesos.
It is only now that Zamboanga is requesting another cloud seeding operation since 2010.
Aside from Negros and Zamboanga, BWSM will also assess situation in other parts of the country affected by the drought. (Rey Pelayo /UNTV news)