Rationalizing The Use of Irrigation Water Aklan Is Moderately Vulnerable to El Niño

Picture taken on Thursday morning, February 18 shows the Aklan River almost empty of water. This is a portion between Bakhaw Sur and Bakhaw Norte.

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 agriculture and fisheries sectors.

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 mild or moderate, 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. The DA will coordinate with local government units (LGUs) so it can maximize the use of irrigation water by scheduling or synchro-nizing 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 the farms," he stressed.

"The DA, for one, is now studying a plan to place concrete linings in irrigation canals to prevent water seepage," he added. 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, according to Fondevilla.

Under its 2010 El Niño Mitigation Program, the DA will 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.

As early as December last year, the DA 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, Aurora , Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, Zambales, Cavite, Rizal, Occidental Mindoro, Palawan, Capiz, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Misamis Oriental, Zamboanga City, Sarangani, and South Cotabato.

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 DA, 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 by a prolonged El Niño attack.

The total production losses under a mild El Niño scenario could reach P8.09 billion and P20.46 billion under a severe dry spell, Fondevilla estimated.

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 metric tons of corn valued at P2.26 billion.

The fisheries subsector could lose 21,181 metric tons of catch worth P1.27 billion, he said, while losses in the HVCC sector could reach 3.17 million metric tons valued at P583 million under a mild El Niño attack.

A severe dry spell could lead to losses of 816,372 metric tons of rice worth P12.24 billion;440,429 metric tons of corn worth P5.2 billion; 42,362 metric tons of marine catch worth P2.54 billion; and 3.08 million metric tons of HVCCs worth 443 million. /MP