The Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) is scheduled to roll out a program that will help areas plan their farm activities based on the newly-completed Water-Energy-Nexus Study.Rolando Pinsoy of Mindanao said the study, which the agency undertook in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), was completed last year and will help farmers to identify the crops suitable for their areas in terms of water level.
The study “seeks to identify Mindanao provinces that are most vulnerable to climate change, including its effect to the region’s water reserves and agriculture industry,” Pinsoy said.
Part of the rollout is the conduct of hydro research assessment and modeling workshops together with the Local Government Units (LGUs) in Mindanao municipalities, said Anne Marie Oledan, also of MinDA.
“We will also teach LGUs on how to analyze the data and to further refine the data,” said Oledan during the Wednesdays @ Habi at Kape – Abreeza.
MinDA will also be handing out manuals containing data gathered from the study and more information needed by the LGUs especially for the crafting of their Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
Pinsoy said they will recommend that crops that are not suitable for a certain area in terms of water availability be replaced as they will also promote adjustments of cropping pattern among farmers.
Oledan said that since most of the land use maps of LGUs in Mindanao are not updated, USAID consultants are doing an “interpolation and at the same time a global satellite reading on the hydrologic and geographic pattern in the island.”
