Cold weather affects quality of crops in Cebu City farmlands

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City Agriculture Office (CAO) today warned  farmers and livestock raisers that the cold weather may affect the quality of their crops and health of their livestocks.

According to CAO head  Apple Tribunalo,  among the crops affected are sweet corns and the lettuces, both of which have shown signs of being withered due to the cold temperature.

The sweet corn showed signs of blight or white spots caused by fungus grown due too much moister exposure.

Tribunalo, however, said that farmers should not worry because when the temperature rises, the sweet corns will naturally return to their normal state.

But farmers should report if the blights have become widespread and has already affected the quality of the crop so the CAO can determine the proper remedy,  which is done on a case-to-case basis, he added.

Meanwhile, Tribunalo also noticed that lettuces have withered slightly roughly on the edges of the crop.

Tribunalo said this problem will require patience, as farmers will need to wait for the end of the cold season for their lettuce to return to their normal state. Farmers should also keep their lettuce hydrated to avoid further wilting, she added.

Tribunalo said even as these conditions have no serious effects in the crops, it would still be best for farmers to protect their crops from cold weather.

“The effect is just really minimal but it is better to be prepared so as not to affect the quality of the produce,” said Tribulano in Cebuano.

Aside from the crops, Tribunalo said that livestocks are also prone to sickness during these cold days as it weaken their respiratory system.

A cow was  reported to have died in Barangay Lahug because it was left out on the rain for days following the consecutive wet days in the middle of January.

Tribunalo said that livestock raisers should provide better shelter for the animals to prevent any spread of sickness brought by the weather.

“The cold weather may affect our animals. We need to take care of them,” she said.

She said that raisers should report to the CAO any chronic or reccuring ilnesses among their livestocks in order to document any possible spread of communicable diseases among the animals and treat it properly before it spreads further.

The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration in Mactan (Pagasa-Mactan) has reported that the weather in Cebu is expected to get colder as February draws nearer.

Pag-asa Mactan chief  Al Quiblat earlier said that the temperature in Cebu has dropped to a low of 22 degrees Celsius  brought about by the northeast monsoon that carried with it  the winter winds from Japan and China. / elb