Another round of cloud seeding operations might be conducted in Bohol after Gov. Edgar M. Chatto strongly recommends the Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM) of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to make an artificial rain to save the hectares of rice lands in the province.

In his letter to BSWM Director Silvino Q. Tejada dated July 28, 2016, Gov. Chatto stated that last July 27, 2016 he received a resolution from the Provincial Federation of Irrigators Association (PFIA)in the province of Bohol requesting for a cloud seeding operation over the four major dams in Bohol –Malinao in Pilar; Bayongan (San Miguel), Capayas (Ubay) and Talibon Dam in Talibon.

Chatto said Regional Manager Modesto G. Membreve, National Irrigation Administration (NIA) 7 also wrote and informed him that El Niño is still felt in the four big reservoirs even as the province started to experience rains since June.

Chatto said that based on the forecast of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Administration (PAG-ASA) last month was the start of the rainy season, however, the effects of El Niño is still felt as watershed areas are short of water supply.

Melchor E. Bunado, president-PFIA in their resolution stated that rainfall is very minimal over the watershed areas particularly in Malinao Dam that caused the insufficient supply of water to their ricefields.

Bunado said 100 percent of the farmers in the service areas of Malinao Dam that have already rice seedlings has not transplanted to the fields due to the scarcity of water.

Bohol is the only province in the region where irrigation facilities are located being the “Rice Granary in Central Visayas.”(Atoycosap, w/ reports from Leon Parac, Jr.)