DA to see clouds if El Niño worsens in 2007

Department of Agriculture may result to cloud seeding should the mild El Niño worsen at the start of 2007.

DA secretary Arthur Yap, in defending the El Niño Mitigation Budget for next year said, when all other measures fail, cloud seeding will be carried out in heavily affected areas.

The measures mentioned by Yap included the distribution of palay seeds through PhilRice, to farmers who require lesser water supply.

The repair of El Niño facilities such as catch basins and irrigation systems were also listed as part of the short term mitigating measure.

DA-7 regional director Eduardo Lecciones said cloud seeding is an option provided the direction of the wind can be controlled and there are seedable clouds present.

Without the two factors, the option cannot succeed as he said artificial rain may just fall into the sea. Lecciones said, areas such as western Bohol, southern Cebu, southern Oriental Negros and Siquijor are known areas to easily dry up.

Lecciones said they are also instituting mitigating measures in Central Visayas such as the planting of early maturing varieties and other drought tolerant crops.

The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration recently issued an advisory of an existing and developing mild El Niño.

It stated that the continuance of an anomalous warming at the equatorial Pacific through the early part of 2007 is expected to affect the rainfall patterns in the country and could adversely affect domestic water supply, agriculture and hydroelectric power generation. - Ferliza C. Contratista