LA TRINIDAD, Benguet—In the highly elevated areas of the Cordillera region, the temperature is freezing at night ‘til early morning. As a consequence, frosts, locally called andap, are seen forming from the dew on the ground during night time and before sunrise. This andap will be experienced during the “ice months” of December, January and February.
Atok, Benguet is characterized by high mountains, where the highest point in the entire country’s highway system is at 2,255 meters or 7,400 feet. With its elevation characterized by cloudy and freezing temperature, there are areas of this town where ‘andap‘ or frost occurs. Weather experts claim that the freezing point, when andap usually occurs in higher areas is when the temperature drops below 10°C. As there is no barometer in various areas of the Cordillera, these experts claimed that these higher areas in the region may experience colder temperature lower by two to three degrees from that recorded by the PAGASA in Baguio City.
Despite its terrain, at least 6,000 hectares are utilized for vegetable farming from Atok town’s 21,499
hectares land area. Farming is the main livelihood of the locals in all the eight barangays of the town, according to Mayor Peter B. Alos. Like in Barangay Paoay of this town, various kinds of temperate vegetables are produced, which include cabbage, wongbook, potatoes, sweat peas, carrots, broccoli, among others. At freezing temperature, however, andap occurs in Sitio Englandad, Paoay. Though farmers had learned how to mitigate the effects of andap, it still poses as a problem for them during the “ice months.”
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