GROUND TRUTHING

   No matter how hard we try, sometimes the information just doesn't seem accurate. This especially occurs when we gather information from areas we have not worked with before.
  We received information of need from several barangays to the north of Manila. We couldn't verify the needs, so it's road trip time to the Tarloc area. Ground truthing is going out and verifying for ourselves what is happening without the biased information we sometimes get.

 

As compared to last week when we passed through, the waters had gone down a lot.

 

 

However, the longer the water stays high, the more likely it is to damage the rice crops.

 

 

These rice fields are gone and will need to be planted again. Fortunately, there is enough time to plant and harvest a crop before the dry season starts in January. Rice take 90 to 120 days to mature from the time of planting.

 

 

When rice is harvested, it needs to be dried. This farmer will be able to get 2 crops this season because he was able to plant early. Here is the concrete road where a farmer has the rice all spread out to dry. Clayton, they even use the outside basketball courts. 'Time Out'  'til the rice dries!!