Bohol Farmlands Drying Up Again

Tagbilaran City (PNA) — Bohol farmers brace for another dry spell while their ricefields start to dry up with the ground already showing some cracks.

The report came from the towns of Pilar, Carmen, Mabini, Ubay and Guindulman.

In Mabini, residents already expressed alarm when grassfires erupted because of the extreme heat.

Barangay Minol Barangay Captain Edgar Tumanda in Mabini confirmed this report as he also said the heat set up the palay on fire.

It’s already considered loss and the farmers had no way to recover their capital invested on the farm inputs for this season.

Tumanda said the farmers spent a considerable amount when they planted the palay only to be reduced to ashes, because they relied on rainfall as source of water.

As of now, they are working on measures to stabilize their waterworks system and the irrigation system that will reach the ricefields in their barangay, he added.

If they only had stable irrigation system, they could have been secured even during dry seasons.

Tumanda said their rivers and deep wells have also started drying up and the residents are already conserving water for the remaining supply to last until the end of the dry spell which could be about three months away.

The National Irrigation Administration (NIA)-7 regional office here now closely monitors the water level in dams to brace for the dry spell.

Water level at Malinao Dam in Pilar had already lowered to a critical level and this alarmed the NIA officials here.

This came after the continued reduction of rainfall in the past weeks.

Personnel of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist also continued monitoring the rainfall, and if it would further drop, they plan to request for another round of cloudseeding to save the remaining palay in other areas and minimize the impact of the dry spell. (PNA) CTB/AV/SSC