Bacolod City – The Office of the Provincial Agriculture (OPA) has sought a P15 million budget to soften the impact of the El Niño phenomenon to Negrense farmers, disclosed its head, Edmundo Causing.
Causing disclosed that an El Niño Task Force has already been organized in compliance with directives of the Department of Agriculture, as Negros Occidental farmers brace for the dry spell.
The OPA has been going around different local government units with large areas of farm land to prepare them for the El Niño.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) last week announced that the probability of an El Niño occurrence in June, July, August, and September has increased from 55 percent to 80 percent.
Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson earlier said he supports the call of Negros Occidental 5th district Rep. Emilio Yulo for cloud seeding operations in the agricultural areas in Negros Occidental, especially the sugar plantations.
Lacson said cloud seeding is an option to alleviate the dry conditions, pointing out there is still cloud cover and some areas are even experiencing rainfall.
Negros Occidental is the country’s top sugar-producing province, contributing almost 60 percent of the nationwide the sugar output. (Gilbert Bayoran via tvds photo by tvds)