They will soon be guided by science with the aid of an Automatic Weather Station (AWS).
The AWS will be put up through a joint agreement by the local government unit, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) and the non-government organization Rice Watch and Action Network (R1).
It will be installed in Barangay Franza which is being developed as this city’s local climate information center and as site for organic fertilizer production.
In conjunction with it, the local government here will implement activities relative to the Climate Resiliency Field School (CRFS) being implemented by PAGASA and R1.
“The AWS will provide weather forecast for succeeding days. [The weather data] will be very helpful [so people can plan] their outdoor activities. This is most especially helpful to local farmers due to the information’s impact on their farm activities and crops,” said Jerry Rigos, city agricultural officer.
PAGASA will train the city’s meteorologist who will monitor information and come up with farm weather advisory that will be distributed to farmers and residents.
The AWS will provide the city government information that will help build a database on climate, disaster thresholds and weather forecast based on trends and local experiences.
In addition, it will provide the LGU here with weather data that will help in obtaining a more scientific peek into local climate, disaster thresholds, and accurate weather forecast basedon the recorded climatedata, trends, and local experiences.
“Accurate weather information is important to help farmers adapt to extreme weather events and alert them of possible risks involved. The challenge is to translate this to concrete [information that would] impact on their farms and crops and disseminate them,” Joseph Basconcillo, Pagasa weather specialist, told farmers in a recent forum here.
Basconcillo said Nueva Ecija, the country’s leading rice producer, has experienced the impact of a weak El Niño phenomenon that lasted until the middle of this year. Lesser than normal rainfall is expected as a mild El Niño will prevail in the last quarter of the year.
R1, local officials said, will provide training for selected farmers in five villages here. This will involve crop planning, seeds selection, organic fertilizer and pesticide production, system of rice intensification as the recommended farming system, and diversified livelihood projects.
Mayor Nestor Alvarez has set aside P3.2 million from the city’s funds and from funds of the National Anti-Poverty Commission for the establishment of the AWS and a local climate information center, the training of the meteorologist and other personnel of the local weather station, farmers’ training and the production of organic fertilizer.
