Cloud seeding seeks to save rice reproductive stage

The El Niño Task Force (ENTF) in the province of Bohol and the Boholano farmers have been seeking for another round of Cloud Seeding Operations (CSOs) to be conducted to save the tilling, booting and flowering stages of standing crop in the already cracked rice lands in Bohol.

The ENTF during the CSOs post-assessment meeting last August 5, 2019, had recommended more rounds of CSOs because some municipalities did not experience rain in the height of the recently concluded cloud seeding operations due to the absence of seedable clouds.

After the CSOs last month funded by the Provincial Government of Bohol (PGBh) in the tune of P2.3 million, the province has not experienced heavy rains causing the rice paddies to dry and crack.

Earlier, Leon Parac, Jr., cloud seeding focal person bared that the Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM) through the Department of Agriculture-Regional Field Office (DA-RFO) 7 have a standing fund worth P2.5 million for the 42-hour CSOs intended for Bohol.

Parac added that the project was already bidded sometime in March this year and ready for implementation.

The rice paddies along the national highways in different towns in Bohol have cracked and the standing crop might be damaged if there will be no rains especially in September.

Some farmers in the province have not transplanted their rice seedlings from the seedbeds due to insufficient supply of water in the rice fields.

Romulo Campoamor, one of the farmers in Villafuerza, Carmen said that several hectares of planted rice in his town would incur damage if there are no rains. This will be a problem to farmers who are solely dependent on rice farming.

OrmanHilot, one of the employees of the OPA said that even in his hometown in Bilar, the rice paddies have experienced dry spell and there are even farmers who have not transplanted their rice seedlings due to insufficient supply of water. Accordingly Bilar is known to be a rice producer municipality because of its good supply of water from its natural sources.(AtoyCosap)

NEEDSWATER. The standing crop in its booting stage in Buenavista, Carmen, Bohol would be among the thousands of hectares of rice lands that would incur damage if rains won’t come in September. FOTO Alfredo Amora, Jr.