Cloud seeding operations underway in N. Cotabato

M’LANG, North Cotabato – Cloud seeding operations began in the province on Wednesday to cushion the effects of the drought-spawned El Niño weather phenomenon that has so far damaged 400 million worth of crops in the area.

Mercedita Foronda, provincial disaster risk reduction and management senior officer, said cloud seeding was initially conducted in the northeastern and northwestern sections of North Cotabato, where farmlands sustained the heaviest losses in harvests.

She said the severely affected areas include the towns of M’lang, Makilala, Alamada, Matalam and Kidapawan City.

The rain-inducing mission will have three sorties daily within the next two months depending on the improvement of weather condition in the province, Frondoza stressed.

The Manila-based Inter-Island Airlines, which earlier won in the bidding process conducted by the provincial government, would carry out the aerial task of dispensing silver iodide or dry ice in the clouds with a plane on standby at the Central Mindanao airstrip in the province.

According to Foronda, the province has trained cloud spotters in Kidapawan City and each of its 17 towns who regularly transmit information and photos to their central weather monitoring office situated at the provincial capitol for much-needed updates.

The operations elicited a moderate downpour across the province. (PNA)