DA Team From Manila Arrives To Conduct Cloud Seeding In Cebu, Bohol

A team from the Bureau of Soil and Water Management of the Department of Agriculture from Manila has arrived in Cebu to conduct cloud seeding in the provinces of Cebu and Bohol which are experiencing a prolonged dry spell.

Baltazar Tribunalo, Cebu Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) chief, said the team came to Cebu Thursday upon their request for cloud seeding.

The PDRRMO earlier reported that 22 out of 51 local government units are affected by the dry spell, resulting to an estimated damage of PHP186 million.

Tribunalo said the team is planning to conduct the operation as soon as possible, but the cloud seeding depends on the availability of seedable clouds and aircraft from the Philippine Air Force (PAF).

The team will use powdered specialized salt for the operation.

Tribunalo said he is grateful for their quick response on the request for cloud seeding.

He said the team was supposed to conduct cloud seeding in Bohol this week but there are no clouds in Bohol yet.

“I’m very happy they quickly responded to our request. We made the request last week, and they’re here now),” Tribunalo said.

The team is also working with the PAF and the PhilippineAtmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).

Engineers from the Department of Agriculture were also sent with the team.

Tribunalo said the challenges in conducting the operation are the location and shape of Cebu, the required 1,000 hectares of growing agricultural products, presence of dams and water-impounding facilities and the availability of seedable clouds and aircraft.(PNA) FFC/EB/PJN