NEGROS OCCIDENTAL (PIA) -- Solar power irrigation, cash assistance, and farm inputs were among the urgent needs farmers identified in the municipality of Pontevedra during a ‘Hinun-anon’ (dialogue/interaction) last week.

This Philippine Information Agency-led activity gathered more than 35 farmers who also appealed for livelihood, farm-to-market roads, post-harvest facilities, and livestock programs to weather them through the destructive effects of the El Nino Phenomenon.

The damages, however, were made minimal due to the timely advice from the local agriculture office to skip planting due to unfavorable weather, Municipal Supervising Agriculturist Zyrenee Gareza, said.

Gareza noted that as of April 4, the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office and the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist validated damage totaling more than P808,000 from 20 farmers covering more than 22.77 hectares of rice land from five barangays of the town.

municipal agriculture office, adding that the DA has an incoming road project in Pontevedra which is the concreting of Barangay San Isidro.

Pontevedra town has more than 1,000 farmers with 17 rice farmers' cooperatives and associations.

During the "Hinun-anon" representatives from the Department of Agriculture Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist also presented the programs the farmers can avail of.

Pontevedra is a third-class municipality with a population of 51,866 having 20 barangays located in the southern part of the province, approximately 48.8 kilometers from Negros Occ.'s capital, Bacolod City while the main source of livelihood of the people is agriculture. (AAL/Lljr PIA 6-Negros Occidental)