BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The ongoing dry spell in Negros Occidental has already affected 16 hectares of rice fields in the southern part of the province, according to the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA).
Damage to the province’s rice crops has so far reached P500,000, said OPA head Dr. Edmundo Raul Causing.
Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said yesterday morning they were already preparing assistance to the affected farmers.
However, he said the P15-million budget asked by OPA to combat the effects of the upcoming El Niño must be detailed.
“We are results-oriented. In preparing the budget, the desired end-result must be explained,” Lacson said.
The Department of Agriculture earlier told local government units in Western Visayas to form their respective El Niño taskforce early to help mitigate any calamity related to the dry condition.
El Niño, characterized by unusually warm ocean surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, could affect the normal rainfall pattern in the country, generally resulting in reduced rainfall./PN
