THE agriculture committee of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan chaired by Vice-Gov. Dionisio Victor Balite expressed serious concerns over the impact of El Nino that may last for months from now.
Balite attended the El Nino task Force meeting presided over by Gov. Aris Aumentado to find some measures to cushion the dry weather effects.
One of the preparatory measures is to urge farmers to plant, like the seasonal rice, early.
The measure may help the farmers a lot while still there’s a lot of water, like the Malinao dam, Pilar town, where it keeps on flowing as of yesterday despite the dry and hot weather.
Another is the cloud seeding or making artificial rain which may be expensive.
But there’s a hitch since the government is prohibited to hire private planes for the cloud seeding, according to Gov. Aumentado, in a separate interview.
But the governor thinks positively that the provincial government may be able to request for help from the Philippine air force that has plane that may be used for artificial rain.
Meanwhile, the provincial government has allotted fund for this undertaking and for the farmers in their effort to plant early, according to a reliable source.
The said task force is composed of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist, National Irrigation Administration, Agricultural Training Institute, Office of the Provincial Veterinarian, Nation Food Authority, Bohol Environment Management Office, Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Fishery and Aquatic resources, Provincial Rick-Reduction Management Office and Provincial Health Office attended and participated in the said meeting. (rvo)
