Cordillera staves off El Niño with watershed protection
>> Monday, June 15, 2015
BAGUIO CITY -- The Cordillera region is a lot
luckier than other regions as it has not been hit by the adverse effects of the
prolonged dry spell plaguing other parts of the country.
“We are
blessed and lucky because of the daily afternoon rains. We are actually
surprised because for the past five years we have been worried of the critical
condition of our agriculture because of the effect of the El Niño but since it
was declared five months ago, we have not recorded a single incidence of damaged
crops due to drought,” said Robert Domoguen, information officer of the
Department of Agriculture-Cordillera.
He said this
is the first time the Cordillera was spared from the effects of the El Niño,
particularly the agricultural sector of the region.
The region’s
projects on watershed protection as well as the irrigation projects of the
National Irrigation Administration and farmers’ effort to select crops
appropriate for summer season are among the factors cited for the region’s
successful response to the dry spell.
Domoguen
said Kalinga province, particularly Tabuk City, which is often hit by drought,
has reported a good agricultural harvest. Tabuk City is the top producer of
quality rice in the Cordillera.
In November
2013 until March 2014, the provinces of Kalinga, Mt. Province and Ifugao
suffered from drought, affecting the hybrid corn production and rice, reaching
agricultural damage amounting to about P500 million.
In relation
to the phenomenon, Danny Galati of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and
Astronomical Services Administration-Cordillera, said the region is blessed
with rains regularly occurring compared to the other parts of the country
especially in Visayas and Mindanao which are suffering from the El Niño
phenomenon.
In the last
quarter of 2014, PAGASA declared the start of the El Niño phenomenon affecting
the entire country.
“We have
been having a good cloud formation in the region even with the El Niño already
in effect reason we do not feel it so much. Our high elevation is also an
advantage which makes our temperature better aside from the rains that we are
having,” said Galati.
He added
that the temperature in Baguio City and in most parts of the region remains at
24 to 25 degrees Celsius since the start of El Nino last year.
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