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To lessen the intense effect of El Niño on Batangas sugar cane plantations, the Batangas Integrated Sugar Planters Association (BISPA) initiated cloud seeding operation in the province, March 20.
Mr. Ruben Marasigan, chairman of BISPA, said that they have allocated at least P1.2 million for cloud seeding to irrigate their 30,000 hectares of sugar cane plantations located at the 1st and 2nd districts of Batangas.
“We’re hoping this cloud seeding operation will be successful so we could still replant this coming December,” Marasigan said.
Sugar planters in the province could lose up to half a billion pesos if the dry spell continue in the coming months, Mr. Marasigan added.
Meanwhile, cloud seeding is a form of weather modification whereby salt crystals are released into a cloud with the use of airplanes or helicopters. The particles (salt crystals) grow until they are large enough to cause precipitation to form.
According to Mr. Marasigan, the cloud seeding will be conducted in a span of 30 hours with at least 500 sacks of salt to be disposed in the air. They will conduct a total of 25 flying sorties aimed at inducing artificial rain to areas hardest hit by the drought in the province.
At a current cost of P32,000 per sortie, he said their cooperative’s budget for cloud seeding is projected to cover 25 hours of flying time. He said at least 500 kilograms of salt will be used for each cloud seeding sortie.
Aside from boosting rainfall, cloud seeding methods are also expected to help raise the levels of water reservoirs.
The cloud seeding operation in Batangas was conducted by private firm ChemTrad Aviation of Captain Baradas who is based in Tanauan City.
Technical Sgt. Rey Moleta from the 900 Airforce Weather Group and the Bureau of Soil and Water Management (BSWM) supervised the operation.
Moleta said the cloud seeding would be done during mid-morning and mid-afternoon, when the skies are usually covered with cumulus clouds.
Source here
[tags]Sugar Planters, Sugar Cane, Cloud Seeding, Batangas, Batangas City, Batangas Integrated Sugar Planters Association, What is cloud seeding, how, News. WOWBatangas [/tags]
i would like to make some corrections in the said article:
1. 30,000 hectares is the total land area of sugar farms in the province covering the 4 districts (not only the 1st and 2nd)
2. we started the cloudseeding operation last march 17, 2010
3. although this project is funded by BISPA whose membership composition is mainly from the 3rd and 4th district of batangas, the rainfall is not only limited to their area. the other growers benifit as well
i would like to make some corrections in the said article:
1. 30,000 hectares is the total land area of sugar farms in the province covering the 4 districts (not only the 1st and 2nd)
2. we started the cloudseeding operation last march 17, 2010
3. although this project is funded by BISPA whose membership composition is mainly from the 3rd and 4th district of batangas, the rainfall is not only limited to their area. the other growers benifit as well