KIDAPAWAN CITY, April 8 (PNA) — Thousands of farmers in North Cotabato continue to experience losses in agricultural products as the dry spell continues.
Agriculture officials said the cost of damages to agricultural products due to drought continue to rise.
As of April 7, the reported damages to agricultural products reached Php230-million, according to Dr. Eliseo Mangliwan, North Cotabato provincial agriculturist.
Heavily affected crops are rice, corn, banana and rubber, which is North Cotabato’s major products.
Mangliwan said if the dry spell continues until next month, more crops will be damaged.
“The extent could even go higher with no immediate remedy in sight,” Mangliwan told DXND Radyo Bida Kidapawan.
“Rain is the only remedy to save our agricultural products,” he said, adding that even sources of water for plantations and rice fields have dried up.
Aside from drought, farmers of rubber, banana, coconut and other crops are also threatened by grass fire that occur every now and then since February.
At least 16 grass fires were recorded in Mlang alone and another 20 in Kidapawan City.
Mangliwan said his office has already recommended to the Department of Agriculture regional office for the conduct of cloud seeding operations to induce rains in the province.
Aside from costly, the cloud seeding could not be done anytime and anywhere.
“The problem is no ‘seedable clouds’ in the province to conduct cloud seeding operations,” Mangliwan said. (PNA)