DA-7 sends out team to monitor irrigation dam situation in Central Visayas

A farmer in Barangay Sudlon II in Cebu City fetches water for his plants in this November 2016. |CDN file photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture in Central Visayas (DA-7) will deploy personnel starting today to check on the situation of irrigation dams in the region.

DA-7 Information Officer Melquiades Ibarra said that they would want to validate reports that water levels on irrigation dams in the region had continue to decline.

“Mao nay atong gi-monitor kay nius-os na ang level and we want to know if kuan na ba ni siya, alarming level na ba or dili pa,” Ibarra said.

(That is what we are monitoring because the water level have gone down, and we want to know if this (water level) is alarming or not.)

According to Ibarra, Cebu has around two irrigation dams which are located in Carcar City and Toledo City, while Bohol has three irrigation dams and two irrigation dams in Negros Oriental.

Read more: Cebu City Agriculture allots 10M to prepare farmlands for El Niño

He said that last week, they had already received orders from their Central Office to monitor their irrigation dams due to the weak El Niño that the country had been experiencing.

“Pero actually ang atoang El Niño task force, atoa na nang gireactivate. Unya ang trabaho nato ani ang monitoring,” he added.

(Actually, we have already reactivated the the El Niño task force. And our job is to monitor (the effects of the El Niño).)

Due to this, Ibarra advised farmers to no longer plant crops and to harvest their crops earlier.

He also advised farmers to build sheds for their livestock and supply them with enough water to drink. 

Read more: Cebu City’s Veterinarian warns hograisers about El Niño’s effects on pigs

Although Ibarra said that they had not yet received any reports on livestock or animals that died due to the intense heat.

He also said that they also had not yet determined the extent of the damage caused by the weak El Niño.

“Kung mag-uwan, kinahanglan nga magpondo sila ug tubig-uwan,” he said.

(If it rains then they should stock up on rainwater.)

Ibarra said that they had already distributed hose and drums to farmers that they could use for this purpose.

DA-7 has also allocated more than P2 million for cloud seeding.

“Nagsige pa mi og coordinate sa PAGASA (Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration) kun mature na ba ang panganod aron maka-cloud seeding ta,” Ibarra added.

(We continue to coordinate with Pagasa if the clouds are mature to do cloud seeding operations.)/dbs