ZAMBOANGA CITY—Mayor Ma. Isabelle Climaco-Salazar has ordered the Office of the City Agriculture to expedite measures to help farmers affected by the dry spell.
Salazar’s order came after the damage to crops and fishery products caused by the continuing dry spell and prevalent bushfires have reached P129.44 million as of March 24.
She has also said the continuing dry spell, which has led to water and power shortages, should be immediately addressed.
One of the measures being looked into by the city government, the Zamboanga City Water District, and the Department of Agriculture is the conduct of cloud-seeding operations to induce artificial rains in this city.
City Agriculturist Diosdado Palacat said the bushfires, due to unsupervised outdoor burning and slash-and-burn activities, have led to increased devastation of agricultural lands planted with banana, cassava, mango, rubber and coconut.
Palacat earlier reported that rice fields and corn fields including lands planted with assorted vegetables, as well as fishponds, have been ruined due to the long dry spell.
These affected areas are spread out in the six agricultural districts of this city, namely, Tumaga, Ayala, Culianan, Manicahan, Curuan and Vitali.
Palacat said that damaged crops planted in 1,389.8 of the total 8,743.9 hectares affected have no chance
of recovery.
Meanwhile, the Zamboanga City Special Economic Zone (ecozone) said it is aiming to be the country’s top halal industry processing and manufacturing zone.
The ecozone signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) to allocate 100 hectares in its Second Industrial Park for halal processing and manufacturing.
The special ecozone will serve as the center of halal industries in the Philippines as it is the only free port that services both the Visayas and Mindanao.
The MOA also indicated that the NCMF will be positioned as the lead body in the development and promotion of the local halal industry especially halal enterprises registered in the special ecozone.
Under the same deal, NCMF will accredit halal-certifying bodies operating in the zone according to its standards, and will monitor manufacturers, producers and investors’ compliance to Philippine halal standards.
The halal industry covers food processing, food service, cosmetics, personal care, pharmaceuticals and logistics industries.
Halal products and services are increasingly becoming popular even to non-Muslims because of the perception that these products undergo stringent inspection.
Catherine Pillas, PNA