By JEN BAYLON
The Negros Occidental Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) said the drought caused by the El Niño phenomenon will likely affect rice production in the province.
OPA officer-in-charge Dr. Dina Genzola said they are still computing the exact extent of the crop losses due to drought.
Genzola remains hopeful that irrigated areas can still produce more rice.
“Affected man gid ang production sang rice but, hopefully, mabawi sang irrigated areas. Kay kung may water lang, maka-produce man siya damo,” she said.
She expressed concerns about rice production in several local government units (LGUs) in the province, as she hopes that damaged crops can be recovered through irrigation.
She added that the irrigated rice fields could produce five to six metric tons of rice per hectare.
Genzola said the rain showers experienced in different parts of Negros Occidental were not enough to revive the crops in areas where extreme heat has caused the parched soil to crack.
“May monitoring kami sang rainfall pero indi pa gid siya enough para ma-address ang kakulangan sang tubig,” she said.
“Indi pa gid siya too much maka-penetrate sa soil. So, we’re waiting gid ya sang rain nga tani enough gid ya,” Genzola said.
Rains have been reported in the cities of Sipalay, Talisay and Himamaylan, as well as the municipalities of Cauayan, Binalbagan, Hinoba-an, Valladolid, La Castellana, Moises Padilla, Toboso, and Hinigaran in the past days.
Genzola hopes the effects of drought are unlikely to get worse.
“Indi na man gid siya siguro mag-worsen, kay ang mga LGUs ga-continue pa sa ila monitoring man,” she said.
“But for those [LGUs] nga wala pa ka-submit, masigi pa sila submit kag kami ma-continue validate,” she added.
The latest OPA report as of May 3, showed agricultural damage due to drought caused by El Niño in Negros Occidental has now reached P214 million.
The damage to rice crops is now at P206,336,070, while losses to corn crops have reached P5,814,191.
La Niña
The transition to the La Niña phenomenon is expected to bring slight rains in the province after the middle of May, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) said yesterday.
“Based sa aton advisory, ang El Niño naga-weaken naman siya, so ma-expect kita nga may slight rain after mid-May. Dira na da ga-transition sa La Niña naman,” PDRRMO head Irene Bel Ploteña said.
“Mabugnaw-bugnaw na compared sa subong, kag ma-address na ang kainiton sa fields naton,” she added.
Ploteña said they are closely monitoring the weather updates from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.
She also mentioned that several LGUs have conducted a series of training, and have prepositioned their necessary resources in preparation for La Niña./JB, WDJ