NIA pushes crops that need less water

The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) urged the Department of Agriculture (DA) to provide farmers with high-yield rice varieties and other crops that require less water amid the threat of El Niño to the country.

NIA Administrator Eddie Guillen said the NIA also asked the DA to instruct farmers on crop diversification to encourage them to plant crops that require less water during the dry spell and still earn a living.

“When El Niño comes, although we have fewer farms to irrigate, we hope we can recover with the higher [crop] yield,” he said.

The NIA chief said he was thankful to Congress for giving the agency an additional budget, which he described as a “game changer” as this would be used in irrigating upland farms that produce high-value crops, and in procuring solar pump irrigation with drip irrigation and fertigation equipment. —JEROME ANING

READ: Marcos orders gov’t agencies to conserve water as El Niño looms