PIA Dispatch (05 February 2010)

BSWM leads cloud seeding

El Niño is already felt in Cagayan Valley Region.

In a report sent to Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap by DFA RFU II Regional Executive Director Dr. Andrew B. Villacorta, around 230,560 hectares of rice and 202,471 hectares of corn are already affected.

Request for the cloud seeding operations were sent to the Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM), the lead agency of the Department of Agriculture mandated to conduct cloud seeding (per EO 116).

In an immediate response, Dr. Silvino Q. Tejada. BSWM Director, requested one PAF Cessna 210 plane to conduct sorties in the entire region affected by El Niño. The said aircraft is based in Cauayan Airport, Isabela and was able to complete 10 sorties as of February 3, 2010.

To augment the operation of the PAF plane and to salvage a large number of areas affected in the Cagayan, Isabela, Quirino and Nueva Vizcaya grid including the watershed areas of Magat Dam, BSWM is preparing for the deployment of a bigger plane that could dispense 500 kilos of salt per sortie.

Also affected by El Niño is the Visayas region, particularly Negros Occidental, the country’s Sugar Industry capital. At the initial height of drought, the Provincial Agricultural Office of Negros Occidental, together with BSWM cloud seeding officer (BSWM-CSO) Ms. Leilanie G. Naga, conducted a validation of the reported areas affected by El Niño in the province. Result of their assessment showed that around 7,000 hectares of rice and 343 hectares of corn which are in their reproductive stages were already affected.

In addition, around 28,000 hectares of newly planted and rationed sugarcane in the municipalities of Magallon, Himaymaylan, Hinigaran and La Castellana were already threatened. The province will be losing some PhP 1.7 billion worth of crops if there will be no intervention to mitigate the effects of El Niño.

In response to the request of the sugar planters, the provincial government of Negros, through Governor Isidro P. Zayco, initially funded the hiring of one Cessna plane to be used in cloud seeding. The base of operation is in Silay Airport, Silay City.

Through the BSWM, cloud seeding operation commenced last February 1, 2010 and had already completed a total of 9 sorties. Cloud seeding operations will continue in the next few months as the El Niño phenomenon worsens. Initial reports showed that rains were already felt in some parts of the province.

Relative to this, the Bureau of Soils and Water Management is facilitating the deployment of aircraft to conduct cloud seeding operations over Regions 4 and 11. The areas affected are Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon (CALABARZON) and Davao del Sur and Davao del Norte in Mindanao.