
Frost laden plants-- Photo grabbed from DA-Cordillera FB page.**
BAGUIO CITY – Cordillera farmers have the capacity to minimize the impact of possible frost phenomenon on crops with the help of various forms of government aid, an executive of the Department of Agriculture in the Cordillera Administrative Region (DA-CAR) said.
Frost phenomenon occurs when temperatures drop usually during the first two months of the year.
Aida Pagtan, chief of the DA-CAR Regional Agriculture and Fisheries Information Service (RAFIS), told the Philippine News Agency on Wednesday that farmers have been given sprinklers, water hoses, PVC hoses, and watering pails, among others, to help lessen the impact of frosting.
She said farmers have prepared for this by also adjusting their schedules.
“Before the sun rises, they already know that they should water the plants so that the ice will melt and will become water that will drop to the soil preventing it from being damaged when the sun hits the plant,” she said in Ilocano.
Mist on leaves and flowers freeze due to the cold temperature. When hit by the sun, it melts and causes burning and wilting.
“Matagal na iyan na nararanasan ng farmers, hindi na yan bago kaya alam na nila ang gagawin nila para hindi masira ang mga pananim nila (Farmers already know how to handle the frost being a long time phenomenon preventing the damage to their plants),” Pagtan said.
Pagtan said frost phenomenon is not widespread but involves a minute land area in Atok and in Mount Santo Tomas in Tuba, Benguet.
Officials of Atok, Benguet earlier said the phenomenon involves one village, with about 1,000 square meters of land area, located on the topmost portion of the mountain.
Atok is a highly elevated town where the temperature is about 2 to 3 degrees Celsius lower than the recorded temperature in Baguio City.
The lowest temperature in Baguio this year was about 11.8 degrees Celsius.
Pagtan said DA continues to provide assistance in the form of logistics, funds and even technical training to help the sector further improve productivity.
She clarified that these assistance programs are intended to both address frosting and improve farmers’ livelihood. **Liza Agoot