Thursday, October 04, 2007 Frost monitoring stations mulled in Benguet By Jane Cadalig
BENGUET farmers would soon be spared from huge financial losses as the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration is looking into the possibility of putting up monitoring stations to predict the onset of frost occurrences that beset the province's agriculture sector.
Engineer Nathaniel Servando, Pagasa's deputy director for research and development, said the agency is looking into the possibility of establishing frost monitoring stations in strategic fields in the province.
At present, Pagasa has no facility to predict frost occurrences aside from continuous weather observation.
These stations would assist in predicting the onset of frost, which would help spare farmers from financial losses brought about by frost.
A frost is an ice crystal formed during a freezing weather condition. This usually hits farmers in highly elevated towns like Atok, Kibungan and Buguias during the months of December to February.
Servando said Pagasa Central Office has been discussing the proposal with its local office in Baguio, one of the five weather stations nationwide.
Servando and other Pagasa officials were in Benguet on Monday for a forum on hydro-meteorological hazards and an information drive on the agency's interventions during the dry spell that affected regions I, II, III and some provinces in the Cordillera two months ago.
Pagasa warned provincial officials and concerned agencies to be prepared and to establish mitigating measures, saying the last quarter of this year would bring in more rains brought by typhoons.
The agency forecasted two to three typhoons would cross Luzon this month - two would affect Southern Luzon and Visayas in November and one to affect Mindanao in December.
