AN official of the City Agriculturist’s Office (Cagro) of Davao reports that the changing climate has affected the production of industrial crops.
Cagro focal person on industrial crops Dario Divino said production has been unstable since the changing weather patterns as of late disrupted the usual schedule of the harvest season. Divino said the rainy weather earlier in the year replaced what was supposed to be the vital dry season.
Before, the dry months of March to April prepare the crops for flowering before the arrival of the wet season around May to June and harvesting will come just in time for the month of August.
“Apan ang nahitabo, bisan gani summer mag ulan (Even when it’s summer, it’s raining). Nausab gyod ang timplada sa atong mga tanom mao na dili na kaayo ta maka-harvest pagabot August, sa Kadayawan na schedule (It changed the conditions of the crops, thus we were not able to harvest in August),” Divino said during a radio interview.
This phenomenon has been evident this year when the city only harvested a low yield of 3,000 metric tons of durian for the first half of 2022, compared to the usual harvest of at least 12,000 metric tons.
On the other hand, Divino said the unusual weather patterns also affect the health of the crops as plant diseases and pests or insects thrive in prolonged dry weather.
“Ang mga insekto dali lang sila mudaghan, mag proliferate sila sa init na klima (The insects proliferate in warm climate). (At the same time) pag taas ang moisture unya mag init og kalit, ang mga fungal og sakit, mukusog (the weather changes from humid to wet which allows fungal and plant disease grow),” he said.
One of the city government’s interventions is to plant fruits trees in high-altitude areas. “Ang mga punuan ang musuyop sa atong carbon emission og ma-control niya ang init sa lugar and ma-neutrlize ang situation” Divino said.