While still in the drought outlook, Bohol farmers expect rains upon the entry of Typhoon Goni, now called Typhoon Ineng, in the Philippine Area of Responsibility yesterday afternoon.

In its August outlook, PAGASA identified Bohol and Camarines Norte as those affected by drought or dry spell that is likely to continue or intensify until the early part of 2016.

However, typhoons hitting other parts of the country brought rains from time to time as the weather disturbance boosted the Southwest Monsoon.

Based on PAGASA forecast, Southwest Monsoon has been affecting Palawan, Visayas and Mindanao as the eye of Typhoon Ineng was spotted around 1,000 kilometers east of Aparri, Cagayan with maximum sustained winds of 170 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gustiness of up to 205 kph.

PAGASA calculated the typhoon to move west northwest at 25 kph.

The provincial government’s Task Force El Niño-La Niña continue to monitor the impact of extreme weather pattern on the farmlands, taking note on the “new normal”.

Farm technicians admitted the difficulty in calculating the extent of either the drought or the sudden downpour at times while the typhoons in other parts of the country induced rains in the Visayas at the supposed prevalence of drought.

As of the last monitoring, the Malinao, Bayongan and Capayas Irrigation System could hardly irrigate the whole operational area for current cropping season.

The total area to be irrigated depends on the remaining water at the dam, as the National Irrigation Administration reported.

Capayas IS had just started its initial release of water on July 7, while “its programmed irrigated area was reduced from 300 hectares to 67 hectares due to insufficient water at the dam.

NIA expects that if the typhoon would bring rain again to Bohol, just like the previous typhoons in other parts of the country, it could help in the collection of water for the major dams.