By LITO RULONA Correspondent WHILE agriculture in Misamis Oriental is taking a beating as a result of the heat aggravated by the El Niño phenomenon, the province’s salt producers have reported a significant increase in their production. Jocelyn Montoja, a salt producer in Barangay Baybay, Alubijid, Misamis Oriental, said she expected salt farms in the province to be robust until June because of the rising temperatures. Montoja said her salt farm has not produced this much salt in the last 16 years. She said the province’s salt farms have been seeing “more than the normal production every month.” She cited her six-hectare farm which has so far been producing some 60 sacks of salt every day. During the same period in previous years, she said, the same farm produced only about 35 sacks daily. “Nagtuo mi nga dili mag-dugay ang El Niño pero madugay pa man diay og mas midako among kita matag-adlaw,” Montoja said. Collectively, salt farms in Barangay Baybay now harvest over 600 sacks of salt daily, she said. The El Niño would likely be felt in the country until June when it slowly dissipates, said weather specialist Joe Frivaldo of the Philippine Atmospheric and Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) in El Salvador. Provincial agriculturist Connie Salcedo said said over two thousand farmers in the province have been adversely affected already, and over P67 million worth of crops have been destroyed due to the heat. “Nahadlok kita nga mosaka pa ang gidaghanon ani kay wala pa man nahuman ang El Niño,” Salcedo said. The capitol has taken steps and has set aside funds to aid the farmers. “Aduna na kita’y gi-andam nga sinako nga mga binhi sa mais, humay ug utanon aron itunol ngadto sa mga mag-uuma,” said Salcedo.