THE Department of Agriculture (DA) and Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM) have scheduled the cloud seeding operation in Negros Occidental in May.
Dina Genzola, senior agriculturist of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (Opa), said on Tuesday, April 2, the team composed of the DA and BSWM have completed the assessment on the need for cloud seeding in the province.
Genzola said the procurement process including the bidding has yet to be conducted. It might last for a month.
“The P2.5 million budget allocated by DA- Western Visayas will be fully utilized,” she said, adding that the cost of the cloud seeding operation is P40,000 per hour flight.
Cloud seeding is one of the measures seen to allay possible adverse effects of the prevailing dry spell brought about by El Niño phenomenon.
Opa records showed that damage to agriculture sector of Negros Occidental caused by the dry spell and pests already surged to P60.61 million.
Greatly affected localities in the province were Murcia and Binalbagan with P8.29 million and P7.13 million worth of rice production losses, respectively, it added.
With the impending cloud seeding operation, Opa expressed optimism that the rice production output of the province will not suffer much.
Genzola, meanwhile, reminded farmers to immediately file notices of loss once their crops are damaged by calamities.
Through the Negros First Universal Crop Insurance Program (NFUCIP), farmers may avail themselves of the P17,000 claim per hectare of damaged farms.
NFUCIP is an initiative of the Provincial Government in partnership with the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. It was implemented in 2011.
Based on the modified guidelines of the program, the enrollment premium per cropping season remains at P840 but the whole amount will now be shouldered by the Provincial Government as a loan.
In the previous coverage, only P500 is being shouldered by the Province while the remaining P340 is the counterpart of the farmer-enrollees.
Genzola said affected farmers should fill out forms from their respective City and Municipal Agriculture Office then submit it to the PCIC.
“Adjusters will then assess the extent of the damage,” she said, adding that from 400, they expect more number of farmers to file notices of loss as the damage continues to increase. (EPN)