GIVEN the huge amount of production losses to sugarcane sector brought by the prevailing El Niño phenomenon, the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) is offering a counterpart fund for cloud seeding operation in Negros Occidental.
Emilio Yulo III, SRA Board Member representing the planters, said on Monday, April 8, that the agency has a disaster mitigating fund which can be utilized to reduce possible adverse effects of the dry spell.
Yulo said they are currently coordinating with the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) if the SRA can enter an agreement with the provincial government for a counterparting scheme.
“It would be easier if we can partner with the Provincial Government given that there is already a schedule for cloud seeding in the province,” he added.
OPA earlier said the Department of Agriculture (DA) and its attached agency Bureau of Soils and Water Management have scheduled the cloud seeding operation in May.
The P2.5 million budget allocated by DA- Western Visayas will be fully utilized. The cost of the cloud seeding operation is P40,000 per hour flight, it added.
Cloud seeding is one of the mitigating measures seen to lessen the amount of losses brought by the dry weather.
Initial reports of the SRA showed that the damage to sugarcane sector of Negros Occidental is already pegged at about P366 million.
The figure covers affected area of 42,424.86 hectares.
The estimated yield loss is 114,773 tons, equivalent to 223,807.91 50-kilogram bags of sugar and 3,787.51 metric tons of molasses.
In terms of value, the SRA reported a damage worth P324.5 million in sugar and almost P41.7 million in molasses.
This is on top of P76.6 million worth of production losses in the province's rice, corn, high value commercial crops and fishery sectors.
The SRA official said part of the long-term measures of the agency is developing drought-resistant varieties particularly for upland sugarcane areas.
Yulo said the persisting dry spell will have a huge impact to the local sugarcane production output.
In the recent weeks, they noted a drop in the “millable” canes of some milling centrals.
“Sugarcane is susceptible to extreme heat. The damage is supposed to be potential income of the farmers and planters,” Yulo said, adding that “we now have to move on to the next cropping season.” (EPN)