LAOAG CITY, Ilocos Norte (PIA) – The City Government of Laoag, through its agriculture and social development offices, heightened efforts to mitigate the effects of the El Niño phenomenon on farmers and students.
Mayor Michael Marcos Keon said they are prioritizing these sectors as they are two of the most affected and vulnerable by the hot weather.
In the city, about 137 hectares of agricultural land are already affected by the dry season, mainly rice, corn, and vegetable crops.
To prevent more damage, city agriculturist Shiela Marie Opelac said the local government is currently implementing a rehabilitation plan including the purchase of drought-resistant seeds and fertilizers to replace damaged crops affected by El Niño.
“These drought-resistant varieties will be distributed to affected local farmers to replace their dried-up crops. In the city, El Niño’s impact is intensely severe, with soaring heat indexes and declining water levels compounding the issue. These challenging conditions are inflicting major damage on crops,” she said.
The drilling operations for the additional eight units of solar-powered irrigation system (SPIS) have now started and are being fast-tracked to supply water to farmlands as high temperatures continue.
Each unit of SPIS is expected to produce 18 to 22 cubic meters of water per hour with a serviceable area of about 5 hectares.
Currently, the city has 10 SPIS servicing the main farming barangays in the city.
Meanwhile, in the education sector, the Laoag City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) will implement morning classes only for daycare pupils this month to avoid the hot weather in the afternoon.
Perlita Cabello, head of Laoag CSWDO said they are continuously monitoring the heat index in the city for possible cancellations of classes when the temperature gets too high.
“In Laoag City, our day care centers have sets for classes - one set for the morning schedule and one set for the afternoon. Due to the heat, we have requested that those originally scheduled for morning classes will go to school from Monday to Tuesday, while those who were in the afternoon classes will be at school from Wednesday to Thursday morning,” she said.
