By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga and Jen Baylon

The damage to crops brought by the ongoing drought in Negros Occidental has now reached P87 million, the latest data from the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) showed yesterday.

Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said, while the OPA has not released the full report, he noted that rice fields are the hardest-hit by the drought, amounting to P87,034,807.52, while the damage to corn fields reached P442,740.80.

The El Niño phenomenon has caused crop damage in the province, totaling P87,477,548.32, with Kabankalan City recorded the most damage at P41.9 million, followed by Cauayan town (P14 million), Ilog town (P7.49 million), Bago City (P7.1 million), Himamaylan City (P3.7 million), Valladolid town (P3.4 million), Hinoba-an town (P2.5 million), Hinigaran town (P1.75 million), Sipalay City (P1.7 million), San Enrique town (P1.1 million), Murcia town (P688,638.40), Binalbagan town (P513,360), Moises Padilla town (P450,897.50), Isabela town (P334,800), and Don Salvador Benedicto town (P141,062.50).

Moreover, corn farms in Murcia’s Barangay Minoyan, as well as in Sipalay City’s Barangays Manlucahoc and Camindangan were also affected by the adverse weather conditions.

Meanwhile, Lacson said he received an “unsigned” copy of the pre-cloud seeding assessment report from the Bureau of Soils and Water Management.

He added that the bureau does not recommend conducting cloud seeding as it may cause damage to around 20,000 mango trees in San Carlos City, and another 5,000 trees in neighboring Guimaras island.

“They do not recommend [it], but as I’ve said, it is not signed yet, so it’s unofficial,” Lacson said./DGB, JB, WDJ