Dario Divino, the Cagro's point person for industrial crops, claimed that production has been unstable ever since recent changes in weather patterns disrupted the regular harvest season schedule. Divino claimed that the crucial dry season had been replaced by the rainy weather earlier in the year.
Prior to the arrival of the wet season around May to June, the dry months of March to April prepare the crops for flowering, and the harvest will come just in time for the month of August.
“Apan ang nahitabo, bisan gani summer mag ulan (Even when it’s summer, it’s raining). Nausab gyod ang timplada sa atong mga tanom mao na dili na kaayo ta maka-harvest pagabot August, sa Kadayawan na schedule (It changed the conditions of the crops, thus we were not able to harvest in August),” Divino said during a radio interview.
This phenomenon has been evident this year when the city only harvested a low yield of 3,000 metric tons of durian for the first half of 2022, compared to the usual harvest of at least 12,000 metric tons.
Divino, on the other hand, claimed that the unusual weather patterns also have an impact on the health of the crops because pests, insects, and plant diseases flourish in extended dry weather.
“Ang mga insekto dali lang sila mudaghan, mag proliferate sila sa init na klima (The insects proliferate in warm climate). (At the same time) pag taas ang moisture unya mag init og kalit, ang mga fungal og sakit, mukusog (the weather changes from humid to wet which allows fungal and plant disease grow),” he said.
One of the city government’s interventions is to plant fruits trees in high-altitude areas. “Ang mga punuan ang musuyop sa atong carbon emission og ma-control niya ang init sa lugar and ma-neutrlize ang situation” Divino said.
The program was started in 1998 and Divino said the city will be able to reap the benefits and help mitigate the effects of climate change in the city and control food security.
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