The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) 7 appealed to the Bohol provincial government to hasten the approval of a cloud seeding operation which will be conducted over towns across the province.

The Bohol government has not yet responded to a resolution which was filed by the agency late July, said Engr. William Butron, chief of the NIA 7 Bohol Integrated Irrigation System (BIIS).

He noted that the NIA 7 has also requested the Technical Working Group of Taskforce El-Nino and La-Nina to also submit a resolution to support and expedite the agency’s appeal for the creation of artificial rains.

According to Butron, rice crops are in danger of experiencing unhealthy growth due to insufficient water levels in several Bohol dams which has prompted the BIIS to request for the cloud seeding.

In particular, water level in Malinao Dam in Pilar which irrigates hectares of rice fields in the third and second districts remains low.

Butron said that the BIIS has been forced to make the best of the minimal water supply from Malinao Dam to irrigate nearby paddies that already have planted crops.

It was also reported that rice planting of Bohol farmers has much been delayed as it started only three weeks ago due to the El Nino phenomenon that plagued the province for months.

The presence of the phenomenon was detected in 2014 but its effects started to really be felt in the latter part of 2015, and its intensity was sustained until March this year.

During the period, the prolonged dry spell damaged properties and greatly affected the livelihood of Filipinos, particularly farmers. (Allen Doydora)