EL NIÑO NEWS DISPATCH
D.A. to rationalize use of irrigation water
The government is rationalizing the use of irrigation water by scheduling their use in farming communities as part of the conservation measures it is currently implementing to ease the impact of the El Niño dry spell on the agriculture and fisheries sector.
Undersecretary Bernie Fondevilla of the Department of Agriculture (DA) said that while water in irrigation facilities and dams remain adequate, it is better to conserve this precious commodity while the country is experiencing a moderate El Nino attack.
Citing the assessment by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), Fondevilla said in media interviews that while the latest onslaught of El Niño appears to be a mild or moderate one, it could be longer than usual, though, and could possibly last till July instead of only in May or June.
“We are rationalizing the use of irrigation water but that doesn’t mean that it is not enough,” Fondevilla said. “Water supply remains adequate for our farms and we are just resorting to conservation in the face of a PAGASA-forecasted prolonged dry spell this year. So what we will do is to provide our farmers with just enough water that they need and schedule its release so that we wouldn’t waste water in irrigating their croplands. “
Fondevilla said the DA will coordinate with local government units (LGUs) so it can maximize the use of irrigation water by scheduling or synchronizing its release in El Niño-affected farms.
He said water conservation measures should be implemented even beyond El Niño’s onslaught as part of the government’s long-term measures to ensure the adequate supply of water to farms.
“The DA, for one, is now studying a plan to place concrete linings in irrigation canals to prevent water seepage, he said.
Earlier, Fondevilla said the DA is realigning P1.2 billion from its regular budget this year to bankroll a slew of El Niño mitigation measures.
On top of rationalizing the release of irrigation water, the other mitigation measures include cloud seeding operations over watershed areas; provision of pumps, engine sets, fishcages, vegetable seeds; building small scale irrigation facilities; and alternative livelihood assistance.
Of this amount, the DA is carrying out P570 million-worth of intervention measures for the palay sector, Fondevilla said.
Under its 2010 El Niño Mitigation Program, the DA will also set aside P613.7 million to carry out intervention programs for the corn subsector; another P411 million for high value commercial crops (HVCC); and P117.4 million more for fisheries, Fondevilla said.
As early as December last year, the DA had already created its own task force to carry out programs to raise crop production along with farmers’ incomes in the face of the then-looming El Niño attack.
This DA task force is focusing in mitigation efforts on 23 “highly vulnerable” areas and 24 “moderately vulnerable” areas in the country.
The highly vulnerable areas are Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, La Union, Pangasinan, Cagayan,
As for the “moderately vulnerable” areas, these are Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Mt Province, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Batangas, Laguna, Quezon, Romblon, Sorsogon, Aklan, Antique, Bohol, Samar, Zamboanga Norte, Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga Sur, Bukidnon, Davao Oriental, Davao Sur and Davao City.
Fondevilla said that based on studies made by the Department, a total of 453,204 hectares of land planted to palay, 227,843 hectares of corn areas and 14,160 hectares in the fisheries sector are threatened under a prolonged El Niño attack.
Total production losses under a mild El Niño scenario could reach P8.09 billion and P20.46 billion under a severe dry spell, Fondevilla said.
Under a mild El Niño, he said the DA estimates losses of 264,940 metric tons of rice worth close to P4 billion and 174,224 MT of corn valued at P2.26 billion.
The fisheries subsector could lose 21,181 MT of catch worth P1.27 billion, he said, while losses in the HVCC sector could reach 3.17 million MT valued at P583 million under a mild El Niño attack.
He said a severe dry spell could lead to losses of 816,372 MT of rice worth P12.24 billion;440, 429 MT of corn worth P5.2 billion; 42,362 MT of marine catch worth P2.54 billion; and 3.08 million MT of HVCCs worth 443 million. (DA Press Office)
UPRIIS assures sufficient water for irrigation
In the face of the looming long dry spell which would most likely hit the
In the consultative meeting held last week attended by farmer leaders, heads and representatives of different government agencies under the Department of Agriculture, the Department Manager of NIA-UPRIIS Antonio S. Nangel allays fears of farmers of impending drought.
Nangel assures that Pantabangan Dam can sufficiently sustain the water requirements of standing crop and can even accommodate the quick turnaround cropping or third cropping plus the ratooning farming.
“Pantabangan dam water level of 207 meters, as of this time (February 9) is still above operation rule curve. Given the 102,550 hectares we programmed this dry crop 2010 and its total water requirement of 1,283.71 MCM until harvest time in April, Pantabangan Dam is still at the ideal or safe level of 194.00 meters. With this water elevation, UPRIIS can still program around 25,000 hectares for third cropping or Quick Turnaround (QTA) or Ratooning or both at the same time,” Nangel explained during the meeting.
The judicious releases of water from Pantabangan reservoir the UPRIIS management made during the onslaught of typhoons last year was hailed not only by the local government but by neighboring provinces as well such as Pampanga and Bulacan.
Even President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who visited the province after typhoon “Pepeng” lauded the coordination of Nueva Ecija Governor Aurelio M. Umali and Nangel. When Senate Committee on Climate Change chaired by Senator Loren Legarda summoned all dam operators in
Owing to the well-observed procedure in water releases from Pantabangan dam during typhoons, the UPRIIS was able to program one hundred percent of its firmed up service area equivalent to 102,550 hectares.
By April or when the standing crops shall have been harvested, the dam elevation is projected at 194.00 meters.
“At 194.00-meter water level of Pantabangan Dam, UPRIIS can accommodate the quick turnaround or the third crop after the main and dry season cropping. And it can even provide for rice ratooning without sacrificing the wet crop season program for 2010,” Nangel added.
Rice ratooning is the ability of the rice plant to regenerate new tillers after harvest. UPRIIS is strongly pushing for rice ratooning because it has low irrigation requirement, lower production cost, and higher yield per unit area in less time.
Present during the meeting were Department of Agriculture Region 3 Director Redentor S. Gatus, PhilRice Director Ronilo Beronio who both lauded the efforts of UPRIIS to wade off the adverse effect of El Niño on rice production.
Gatus assured available seed and subsidy for fertilizer to farmers adopting QTA while Beronio said PhilRice would prepare flyers to disseminate information on rice ratooning.
The farmer leaders who attended were the federation presidents of Irrigators Associations (IA) comprising the Board of Directors of the UPRIIS Confederation of Farmer Irrigators Associations (UCFIA).
UCFIA claims for its members some 380 IAs within the service area of UPRIIS in Nueva Ecija, parts of Bulacan, Pampanga and Tarlac. It has 76,000 farmer-members who actively participate in the operation and management of irrigation systems covered by UPRIIS as well as in the collection of irrigation service fee.
The bold move of UPRIIS in programming 25,000 hectares for QTA and ratooning this year is supported by different intervention programs with farmers as direct beneficiaries.
UPRIIS has institutionalized the coordination and sourcing of intervention programs to help farmers maximize their yield starting from production loan from Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) to securing hybrid or certified seeds, to the use of organic fertilizer, to flat bed dryer and up to marketing through the National Food Authority (NFA).
The meeting was well attended with representatives from NFA, LBP, Bureau of Post Harvest and Research Extension (BPRE), National Seed Quality Control Service (NSQCS), Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) and GMA Rice-DA RFU3 coming in full force.
