By JOY R. SEVILLA
ALABEL, Sarangani (May 30, 2014) - A task force for the El Niño phenomenon has been formed in Sarangani Province to provide information and advisory to the Provincial Disaster Risk and Reduction Management Council (PDRMMC) which is chaired by Governor Steve Chiongbian Solon.
During the recent PDRMMC meeting, Solon assigned personnel from the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPAG) and the PDRRM Office to be responsible to inform the council about the latest reports and updates on El Niño from PAGASA (Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration).
"We should be updated and prepared because we have a lot of farm lands in the province," said Solon.
El Niño is a large scale oceanographic phenomenon that develops in the Pacific Ocean and is associated with extreme climatic variability such as devastating rains, winds, drought, etc.
Earlier reports said that El Niño will strike in some parts of the country, including Sarangani, by June this year.
However, Jonathan Duhaylungsod, provincial agriculturist, said there was no pronouncement from PAGASA yet that El Niño will be experienced in this part of the country next month.
"We have no basis to say that El Niño will strike this June. Based on the observation of the rainfall, PAGASA has pronounced that by October this year, mararamdaman na ang El Niño until April next year," he asserted.
Duhaylungsod said OPAG is already planning to conduct advocacy to farmers by distributing flyers from PAGASA on how to mitigate the effects of El Niño.
"We already informed our farmers in Maitum and Kiamba that after harvest dapat makatanim agad sila, they should be in a hurry para hindi sila abutin ng October," he said.
OPAG reports revealed that Sarangani was last affected by El Niño in 2010. The phenomenon struck 9,605 hectares of corn fields and 850 hectares of rice fields with losses of P26.4 million and P1.2 million, respectively.
In 2007 severe drought also hit the municipalities of Alabel, Malapatan, Glan, Malungon and Maasim, while Kiamba and Maitum were moderately affected.
In 1997 to 1998, OPAG recorded the most intense drought event in the province which affected 40,000 families.
This year, PAGASA forecasted that El Niño would likely affect 105,170 households in Sarangani. All municipalities would be affected but Malungon municipality would have the most number of households to be affected with 23,119, followed by Glan with 21,179; Malapatan with 14,970; Alabel with 13,705; Kiamba with 12,865; Maasim with 10,909; and, Maitum with 8,423 households.
On the other hand, Duhaylungsod pointed out that farmers should not worry that much and claimed that even the national government has contingency plans for the El Niño phenomenon.
"What's important is that they (farmers) are aware and they can prepare," he said.
Duhaylungsod added the Philippine Air Force is reportedly training some people for cloud seeding and that the local government may counterpart for the fuel of the aircraft to be used for such purpose.
Cloud seeding is the process of spreading either dry ice, or more commonly, silver iodide aerosols, into the upper part of clouds to try to stimulate the precipitation process and produce rain. (Joy R. Sevilla/SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE)
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