Municipality of Dumangas: The Philippines’ Agro-Met Pilot Area

ECONOMY. The Municipality of Dumangas is primarily an agricultural and fishing municipality. Major agricultural products are palay, salt, sugarcane, fruits and crops. Among the fishery products are bangus, crabs, prawn and shrimps. Despite its movement towards the more sophisticated economic endeavors, agriculture and fishery remain to be the primary gears that turn the turbines of the Municipality’s fiscal system. 

PAGASA AGRO-METEOROLOGICAL STATION. Dumangas has always been at the mercy of natural disasters and calamities. The Philippines being located along the path of weather disturbances and the Municipality being the catch basin of one of the tributaries in the Province of Iloilo, Dumangas has seen much of its resources go to waste during extreme occurrences.

For years, the impact of climate changes was widely felt by farmers, fishermen and fish producers. However, there was then very limited access to specific local weather and climate information that will serve as a guide to the daily and long-term activities of these people. As a result, most constituents were left unprepared for the variables that has significantly lower down production volume at certain periods and sometimes even end-up to the total wash-out of crops and cultured fishes, destruction of lives, properties and infrastructure. 

Among the grave impacts of typhoons and floods are as follows:

1. damages to crops, fishponds, poultry, livestock and other properties;
2. damages to infrastructures including roads, bridges, telephone lines, electrical lines, etc.;
3. destruction of lives;
4. health risks;
5. hiatus in the education sector ; and
6. disturbance in the peace and order, etc.

These damages require so much resources from the LGU for reconstruction and rehabilitation purposes.

This constant problem given birth to a concept that was fathered by Mayor Rolando B. Distura. The very plausible solution is the regular provision of local weather and climate data to constituents for disaster preparation and mitigation purposes. 

After various consultations and discussions with the key people from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geo-Physical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), the latter chose Dumangas as pilot area for the Agro-Met project in the entire Philippines. The project is through the partnership of the Municipality Dumangas and the PAGASA with the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center and the International Research Institute for Climate Prediction. 

Seminars and trainings relative to the project were conducted and various equipment were set-up at the Agro-Met site (Municipal Demonstration Farm and Research Center at Barangay P.D. Monfort South). 

Representative from the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center and the International Research Institute for Climate Prediction visited the project site last March 4 and 5 for assessment and had already committed a 5-year support to the project development. 

Currently, daily observation activities and data gathering are done at the Agro-Met by the municipal employees designated as observers. These data are then transmitted to the PAGASA Central Office for interpretation and the interpreted form is transmitted back to the Agro–Met Office for dissemination purposes. 

The constituents of Dumangas can be informed of future local weather and be able to prepare mitigation measures to minimize the grave impacts of disasters and calamities. The application of weather information provided by the Agro-Met is expected to be the effective tool of the municipality in boosting agricultural and fishery production and most of all for the protection of the property and lives of the people. 

Currently, the Agro-Met station is equipped with an automatic weather station (MILOS 200) and is hooked at the internet for ready access to weather and climate information from the PAGASA for end-users and stakeholders.