10 flight hours left in contract

Cloud seeding TF suspends

Flights due to TD Butchoy

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, July 20 (PIA)—With a little over 10 hours of flight left to induce the rainwater to fall in target areas, the Bohol Cloud Seeding Task Force has recommended for the suspension of flights caused by current weather bulletin with southeast monsoon getting pulled up, making it dangerous for small and light aircrafts.

“Until the weather system affecting Bohol eases and weather becomes favourable for the resumption of the flight of the light aircraft performing the cloud seeding operations, the team will immediately resume and complete the 10 more hours of to complete the contract,” says science research specialist and TF spokesperson Cecille Opada.

Stating during the recent Kapihan sa PIA which updated Boholanos on the latest developments of the ongoing government efforts to induce the rains and allow farmers in rainfed areas to start land preparation.

Since last June 11, the cloud seeding operations started in Bohol.

This, after the provincial government received P5,017,280,00 from the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Soil and Water Management (DA-BSWM) for the agency’s Rice Productivity Support Services.

“The amount have been enough for 50 flight hours,” Opada said.

Aside from Bohol, BSWM also put in funds for cloud seeding operations in Magat Dam areas, Pantabangan Dam areas and Ilo-ilo sugarcane farms.

“These areas have so far been experiencing way below normal rainfall, endangering their crops, that interventions like cloud seeding was recommended,”she added.

From June 11 to July 17, Bohol Cloud Seeding Task Force, in its Bulletin No 1, it reported that the team has completed 27 sorties, expending 38 hours and 44 minutes of operations.

These flights have dispended 270 bags of vaccum-packed salt at an estimated value of 6,750 kilograms of salt.

This week however, state weather bureau has issued weather bulletins relative to the spotted Tropical Depression Butchoy, which has attracted the rain clouds and heightened the southwest monsoon, bringing in more rains.

In Bohol where the wet season should have started in the first week of May, the lack of rains and the apparent low water levels in the dams has caused the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) to delay and stagger the water release prioritizing this time the irrigated rice fields which were not served during the last cropping season.

As of July 16, NIA, in its report on farm activities monitored said there is an increase of 46.12% of their targeted areas for irrigation, as the rains did more than the water flooded out from the dams.

On the other hand, from 602 hectares programmed by LGUS for planting, 9,364 hectares have been readied for planting.

This however is just 25.28 percent of the 37,937 hectares of rain-fed areas.

The phenomenal increase in land preparation is a positive impact of the cloud seeding operations, coupled with natural rains, the task Force, through its spokesperson Opada, said.

Meanwhile, the Task Force continued, “The north of Bohol still needs more rainwater so that the farmers can initiate land preparation, and with barely 11 hours of flight left, without the natural rains falling, several areas may still be damaged.

Along this, the Provincial Government may continue its procurement of the supplemental 25 hours of flight with its P2.5 million Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Funds.

The NIA has 18,244 hectares of operational rice lands in its service area, but with the current conditions of the farms, only 17,515 have been programmed for service this cropping season.

The rest of the irrigated farms fall under the auspices of the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Soils and Water Management, DA Regional Field Office-7, other government agencies and private providers.

According to Opada, Bohol’s agricultural lands measure to about 136,613 hectares, and from this, farmers use the 58,222 hectares for rice, 5,866 hectares for corn, 34,846 hectares for high value commercial crops and 35,338 hectares for coconut.

The remaining 2,321 hectares has been developed for other crops. (PIABohol)