Author: Venus Ladaga

Most awaited by irrigators and farmers associations, the next round of Cloud Seeding Operations(CSOs) will be conducted on Wednesday to save the vegetative and reproductive stages of standing crops, livestock and other agricultural products in Bohol.
This surfaced after Leon Parac, Jr. from the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) and Engr. Corazon Ditarro from the Water Resources Division, Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM) conducted the Pre-Cloud Seeding Assessment last Tuesday and Wednesday at the four major dams and other agricultural areas in Bohol affected by the dry season.
Parac, who is the cloud seeding focal person reported that the water levels of all dams are near critical levels: Malinao Dam in Pilar – actual level at 147.90 meters (ms.), critical level is 146.4ms., full level is 152ms.; Bayongan Dam in San Miguel-actual 42.11 ms., critical 41 ms., full 52 ms.; Capayas Dam in Ubay- actual 33.03 ms., critical 30 ms., full 36.50 ms.; Talibon Dam in Zamora, Talibon-actual 22.38 ms., critical 21 ms., full 30 ms..
He said that the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) considered the water level of Talibon Dam as “dead” because it can no longer deliver water to the service areas in the town of Talibon.
During last Thursday’s assessment meeting together with Assistant Provincial Agriculturist Larry M. Pamugasat the Bohol Capitol, Parac bared that they recommended the conduct of CSOs the soonest possible time.
Catherine Cristales from Royhle Airways, the winning bidder of the 43 hours of seeding operations said that their RP-C1120 aircraft to be used in the operations will arrive at the Bohol Panglao International Airport on Tuesday just in time the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) grants the permit for the operations.
Edna N. Yu, Officer- in- Charge, RAED chief-DA-RFO 7 said that for their part as implementer, it is all systems go for the 43 hours of CSOs in Bohol confirming that the P2.5 million fund from BSWM was downloaded to their office.
Parac said there will be a pre-cloud seeding meeting tomorrow at the OPA office together with the personnel of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) who will serve as the cloud spotters targeting the watershed areas.
Other being utilized as cloud spotters are the trained rice technicians who will give signals to the command center based at the airport to be manned by the BSWM personnel and PAF if there are seedable clouds over the said areas. (AtoyCosap)

CAPTION:
DAMS WATER LEVELS.The four major dams in Bohol: Malinao in Pilar, Bayongan in San Miguel, Capayas in Ubay and Zamora in Talibon at almost critical level. The RP-C1120 aircraft (top-most photo) to be used for the Cloud Seeding Operations. The aircraft is fromRoyhle Airways based in Dumaguete City, the winning bidder for the 43-hour cloud seeding operation in Bohol. Foto LEON PARAC, JR.

Aims to make the Yuletide season a truly festive as early as October, the Provincial Government of Bohol (PGBh) and other line agencies have launched the activities dubbed as “Pasko Sa CPG Park” at the CPG Park, New Capitol Site, Cogon, Tagbilaran City.
The activities have been divided into three seasons: Agri Food Fair & Exhibit which will be held on October 8-16, 2019, a setting for OCTOBERFEST; November 4-12, 2019 – BOHOL’S FIRST; and December 6-15, 2019 – PASKO NA JUD.
The “Pasko Sa CPG Park” is highlighted with the Agri Food Fair to be spearheaded by the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) with the Bohol Associations of Farmers and Fisherfolks(BAFF), Food Fusion to be handled by Bohol Investment and Promotion Center (BIPC) with the Bohol Association of Hotel Resort and Restaurants (BAHRR), the Belen and Dayegon contests to be spearheaded by Center for Culture and Arts Development (CCAD), and Product Exhibit for the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
In the opening program to be held on October 8, 2019 at the CPG Park, Governor Arthur C. Yap will lead to give the messages and the ribbon cutting and opening of exhibits.
Assistant Provincial Agriculturist Larry M. Pamugas said that he will send the letters to some municipal agricultural officers to join the Agri Food Fair and Exhibits to start on October 8, 2019.
Pamugas explained that this is a marketing promotional activity that will be highlighted with the display of fresh fish; organic, agricultural and processed products. Crops and farm products from different farming communities will be showcased.
He said the ingress for the “Octoberfest” activities will be on October 6, 2019, and the egress is on October 17, 2019.
Rosanna G. Lamdagan, Chief-Agribusiness Division, OPA during the preparatory meeting last Friday held at the Gov. Lino Chatto Hall, 2nd Floor, Bohol Capitol Building said the activities also aim to sustain the employment and income augmentation goals of the provincial government by linking the farmers and exhibitors to the traders, exporters and other local buyers.
Belen and Dayegon Contests
Based on the calendar of activities, the deadline for the submission of registration/entries will be on October 8, 2019. The pre-judging of Belen will be done at the Local Government Units (LGUs) level while all Dayegon contestants shall undergo on audition process at the Bohol Cultural Center from November 11-29, 2019 to pick out the eight finalists to be announced on December 2, 2019.
The final judging will be on December 4, 2019, 6:30pm at the Bohol Cultural Center and the awarding of prizes to the winners will be on the evening of December 15, 2019 during the Pasko sa CPG Park program at the CPG Park.
Big prizes at stake awaits to each of the winners of Belen and Daygon contests: First Prize – P200,000; Second Prize – P150,000.00; and Third Prize – P100,000 and consolation prizes of P30,000 each to the non-winning entry.
The whole event will be managed by the 2019 Christmas Committee of the PGBh comprises of the different offices in the provincial government and the private sector.

PREPARATORY MEETING. Rosanna G. Lamdagan, Chief-Agribusiness Division, Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) presides the preparatory meeting with the exhibitors in the Agri Food Fair & Exhibit for the “PASKO SA CPG PARK” last Friday held at the Gov. Lino Chatto Hall, Bohol Capitol Building. Lamdagan says the meeting has called to ensure the smooth implementation of the activities. Foto: RHEZA GUTIERREZ, OPA STAFF

The Bohol nominees for the different categories of the Regional Gawad Saka Search 2019 sponsored by the Department of Agriculture _ Regional Field Office 7 (DA-RFO7) had shined again in this year’s tilt.
This developed after Bohol bagged 18 out of 34 categories of the regional search bested other nominees from the provinces of Cebu, Siquijor, and Negros Oriental in Region 7.
The regional awardees from Bohol who received their awards and recognition last Tuesday during the awarding ceremony held at the Bayfront Hotel (across SM City), north reclamation area, Cebu City were: Melchor P. Yaras – Regional Outstanding Gawad Saka Rice Farmer and Aida T. Salingay of Pilar, Bohol – Rice Farmer Assisting Technician; Karl Norman P. Endres – Regional Outstanding Gawad Saka Small Animal Raiser and Maximo H. Bojo of Batuan, Bohol – Small Animal Raiser Assisting Technician; Danilo S. Garcia – Regional Outstanding Gawad Saka Large Animal Raiser and Aida T. Salingay, Pilar, Bohol – Large Animal Raiser Assisting Technician;
Prudencio D. Polinar, Jr. – Regional Outstanding Gawad Saka High Value Farmer and Conception E. Tumanda, Batuan Bohol – High Value Crops Farmer Assisting Technician; Manga National High School 4H Club – Regional Outstanding Gawad Saka Young Farmer Organization and and Pablita Cabarles, Tagbilaran City – Young Farmer Organization 4H Assisting Technician; Mr. and Mrs. Victor B. Ramos and Family – Regional Outstanding Gawad Saka Farm Family and Cornelia B. Sipsip, Sagbayan Bohol – Farm Family Assisting Technician;
Jagna Calamay Producers Cooperative of Jagna – Outstanding Gawad Saka Agri-Entrepreneur and Rosanna G. Lamdagan, Tagbilaran City – Agri Entrepreneur Assisting Technician; Municipal Agricultural Fishery Council (MAFC) Ubay – Regional Outstanding Gawad Saka MAFC and Fe A. Caballero, Ubay, Bohol – Ubay MAFC Assisting Technician; Marjoe Rey A. Labonite, Tagbilaran City – Outstanding Organic Provincial Focal Person; Chito S. Pilas, Jr., Tanday, Corella, Bohol – Outstanding Organic Small Farmer Individual; Livelihood for Upland Agricultural Management and Development Multi-Purpose Cooperative (LUMAD MPC), Taytay, Duero, Bohol – Outstanding Organic Small Farmer Group;
Reynaldo U. Quilicot and Family, La Paz, Carmen, Bohol – Outstanding Organic Farming Family; Angelito Oroyan, Talibon, Bohol -Outstanding Agricultural Extension Worker; Angeles Opiala, Talibon, Bohol – Outstanding Agricultural Extension Worker; Aida T. Salingay, Pilar, Bohol -Outstanding Agricultural Extension Worker; Ricardo Damalerio, Pilar, Bohol- Outstanding Local Farmer Technician; Municipality of Talibon – Outstanding Municipality: and Helen Q. Igot adjudged as Most Outstanding Gawad Saka Coordinator.
It maybe recalled that last year Bohol nominees were also top in the same regional search where they bagged 17 out of 34 categories.
Most of the regional nominees and became the awardees were among the winners of the different categories of the Suhid sa Malampusong Mag-uumang Bol-anon in the Provincial Government of Bohol (PGBh).
The SUHID is the annual search of the PGBh which aims to award and recognize the Boholano farmers who have excelled in the field of agriculture wherein the winners would automatically be the nominees for Regional Gawad Saka Search. (By Atoy Cosap)

Caption:
ANOTHER MILESTONE: The regional awardees of the Regional Gawad Saka Search 2019 from Bohol are wearing the smiles when they received their awards and recognition during the awarding ceremony last Tuesday at the Bayfront Hotel (across SM City), North Reclamation Area, Cebu, City. Bohol has bested other provinces in Region 7 after the province got 18 out of 34 categories of the regional search.DA-7 Regional Director Atty. Salvador D. Diputado, poses with the Boholano regional awardees. (Foto: APRIL REGINE INOCIAN/ OPA STAFF )

The evaluating teams for the different categories of the Suhid sa Malampusong Mag-uumang Bol-anon 2019 will start to evaluate the nominees on next week.
The evaluation is supposed to be conducted last week but the Provincial Government of Bohol (PGBh) through the Office of the Agriculturist (OPA) had reconsidered the requests of some Municipal Agricultural Officers/Municipal Agriculturists (MAOs/ MAs) to extend the deadline for submission of nominees until last week.
The OPA has already prepared the guidelines and criteria as a basis for judging of the different categories of the search and already created the evaluating teams to do the evaluations.
NOMINEES FOR CATEGORIES
The office has received nominees for the different SUHID categories namely: Outstanding Fisherman, Outstanding Fisherfolks (Fresh Water Fish Ponds), Outstanding Fisherfolks Association, Outstanding Fishery Technician, Outstanding Farmer (Fish Culture), Outstanding Rice Farmer, Outstanding Hybrid Rice, Outstanding Rice Technician, Outstanding Organic Agriculture Farmer Group, Outstanding Japonica Rice Farmer, Outstanding Organic Agriculture Practitioner Farmer,
Outstanding Rural Improvement Club, Outstanding Rural Women, Outstanding Agri-Enterprise for Crops, Outstanding Agri-Enterprise for Fishery, Outstanding Large Animal Raiser, Outstanding Small Animal Raiser, Outstanding Livestock Technician, Outstanding Corn Farmer, Outstanding Banana Farmer, Outstanding Corn Technician, Outstanding HVCDP Crop Farmer (vegetable), Outstanding HVCDP Technician,
And the outstanding FarmersAssociation, Outstanding Young Farmer, Outstanding Farm Family, Outstanding Municipal Agricultural and Fishery Council and Outstanding Municipal Agricultural Officer/Municipal Agriculturist.
The evaluators have composed by OPA employees and representatives from Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), National Irrigation Administration (NIA)7, Agricultural Training Institute (ATI), Department of Agriculture – Provincial Agricultural Technology Coordinating Committee (DA-PATCO), Office of the Provincial Veterinarian (OPV), and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).
During the pre-evaluation meeting last August 29, 2019 held at the Office of Assistant Provincial Agriculturist Larry M. Pamugas, 3rd Floor, Bohol Capitol Building the issues like vehicles to be used, the dates of evaluation, and the category of which the nominees would not reach into three, among others were being tackled.
Rosanna G. Lamdagan, Chief-Agribusiness Division, OPA said the category whose nominees would not reach into three is not included in the SUHID search because the Commission On Audit (COA) would not allow the PGBh to release fund for the prize.
Lamdagan said the OPA would send a letter to the MAOs/MAs informing them that their nominees would no longer be evaluated because the number of nominees of the respective category would not reach into three which is allowable by COA.
Pamugas said Gov. Arthur C. Yap underscored the importance of the Suhid sa Malampusong Mag-uumang Bol-anon and with that, the PGBh would award and recognize the efforts among Boholano farmers and agri-stakeholders who have helped the provincial government to sustain its title as “Food Basket” in Central Visayas. (Atoy Cosap)

FINALIZING THE MOVE. Assistant Provincial Agriculturist Larry M. Pamugas together with the members of the evaluating teams of Suhid sa Malampusong Mag-uumang Bol-anon during the pre-evaluation meeting last August 29, 2019, at his office in the Bohol Capitol Building, tackles and discusses things relevance in the conduct of evaluation of the nominees of the different categories of SUHID. Foto: RHEZA GUTTIEREZ, OPA staff

The Cloud Seeding Operations (CSOs) is badly needed now to save the reproductive stage of the standing crop or for the sustenance of the planted rice in the province of Bohol.
Engr. Evelyn Putong from the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) 7 said that it is too late for the reproductive stage of standing crop if the CSOs will be conducted on the mid of September because at this stage it needs enough supply of water in order to produce good grains.
Conducting CSOs beyond on the first week of this month is no longer useful for the standing crop now because the rice paddies have already cracked and the crop would already die at that time, she concluded.
Engr. Putong disclosed that the releasing of irrigation water from the Talibon Dam in barangay Zamora, Talibon to the service areas in town has already been stopped because the water elevation is now near to the critical level of which the actual level has registered at 21.89 meters (ms.), critical-21.00 ms. and at full 30.00 ms.;
The Malinao Dam in Pilar, actual-148.32ms, critical-146.5ms., at full 152ms.; Bayongan Dam in San Miguel, actual – 43.44 ms., critical – 41.00 ms., at full 52ms.; while in the Capayas Dam in Lumangog, Ubay, actual – 33.48 ms., critical-30.00 ms., at full-36.5 ms.,
As to when the CSOs to be conducted again in Bohol, the ball now is on the hands of the Department of Agriculture-Regional Field Office (DA-RFO7) as the fund in the tune of P2.5 million intended for Bohol CSOs from the Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM) was already downloaded to DA-RFO7 and the project had already bidded sometimes in March this year.
Leon Parac Jr., cloud seeding focal person said that the formal letter from the El Niño Taskforce requesting to implement the operations in Bohol had already sent to DA7 Executive Director Atty. Salvador Diputado.
Parac said attached in the letter was the resolution from the Federated Irrigators Association of the Malinao Dam covered service areas seeking to implement the CSOs in Bohol the soonest possible time in order to save the reproductive stage of standing crop.
He said that the Provincial Government of Bohol (PGBH) now through the Office of the Provincial Agriculture (OPA) has kept on doing a constant follow-up.
Mary Grace Baay also from NIA 7 during the Provincial Coordinating Committee on Agri-Fishery (PCCAF) meeting last Wednesday held at the Constrell Pension House, New Calceta, Cogon, Tagbilaran City reported that of the areas covered by National Irrigation System (NIS) in the 8,701.89 hectares (has.) of irrigated areas they planned to be planted, only 3,899.23 has. have realized or at 44% because of insufficient supply of water among the dams.
Baay said in Malinao Dam, of the 4,016 has. they programmed only 2,069.23 has. have planted; Bayongan Dam of the 3,047.00 has. only 911.00 has. hove planted; Capayas-out of the 858.00 has. only 620 has. have planted; while the Talibon Dam – only 299.00 has. have planted out of the 780.89 has. they programmed.
Gerry Binangbang from Phillippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on the same PCCAF meeting reported that based on their data gathered the standing crop to be harvested within this month of September have an area of 1,258 has. of which the 988 has. are irrigated and 270 has. are rainfed; while the rice lands that were planted last August and to be harvested on November have an area of 19,194 has. of which the 9,337 has. are irrigated and 9,857 has. are rainfed.
Leonard Samar from the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAG-ASA) reported that the Weak El Niño has ended last August and the weather conditions from this month up to November are forecasted as normal.
However, he clarified that we could only experience light to moderate rains and we could not expect to experience heavy rains to happen.
Samar said the month of December is forecasted as above normal of which we would expect to experience heavy rains. (Atoy Cosap)

CAPTION:
WATER ALMOST IN CRITICAL LEVEL. The Talibon Dam in Zamora, Talibon covered the service areas in town has temporarily stopped for releasing of irrigation water to the service areas because the water elevation is near to critical level. The operation resumes once the stocked water has been refilled by rains.