NIA copes with El Niño impacts thru water conservation strategy

Tabuk City, Kalinga – A water-saving strategy is being implemented in service areas of the Upper Chico River Irrigation System (UCRIS) as a means to mitigate the impacts of El Niño.

It has been observed that with the El Niño phenomenon, affecting the province along with other Cordillera provinces, rainfall has been reduced affecting the irrigation’s water supply which mainly comes from the Chico River, among other water sources.

National Irrigation Administration – Cordillera said the strategy called Alternate Wetting and Drying or AWD technology is a water-saving technology that enables farmers to reduce their water use in irrigated fields without compromising their crop yield.

According to the agency, irrigators were trained on the said technology last year.

In the application of said technology, irrigators are encouraged to make use of the intermittent irrigation method, which is done by drying their rice fields for several days and irrigating them anew when the water level depletion is already below the soil surface.

Observation tubes were already put up at the irrigation system’s Lateral D, Lateral C in Agbannawag, and Lateral D in Lacnog which are all located within pump areas.

The agency conveyed it is through this approach that the goal of optimizing irrigation water usage to cope with the effects of El Niño on agricultural production in Tabuk City will be achieved.

“This strategy not only helps safeguard crop yields but also ensures the sustainability of water resources during this dry season,” they wrote.