Pangasinan farmers urged to delay planting due to limited irrigation

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan, Philippines — San Roque Power Corp. (SRPC) has advised farmers to shift the next palay planting season to July, citing the effects of this year’s “super El Niño” and changing rainfall patterns.

Tom Valdez, SRPC vice president for corporate social responsibility, said the San Roque Dam in San Manuel town can continue operating until the end of May.

However, operations will be temporarily suspended from June 1 to June 15 to allow the reservoir to recover.

“Historically, the planting season starts in June, but climatic patterns have changed, and rains now typically begin in July, so we need to adjust our planting calendar,” Valdez told the Inquirer on Tuesday.

READ: Searing heat, dry spell grip provinces amid ‘super’ El Niño threat

As of 8 a.m. Tuesday, the dam’s water level was recorded at 232.68 meters above sea level, or 47.32 meters below its spilling level of 280 masl.

Pangasinan Vice Gov. Mark Lambino said the National Water Resources Board had already issued a bulletin last February warning that the dam may not be able to fully meet irrigation demands this summer due to low water levels.

Major producer

“We’re already being informed, and national agencies are coordinating properly, so we will just wait for the assessment of the agriculture office,” he said.

Pangasinan remains one of the country’s major rice-producing provinces, with nearly 200,000 hectares devoted to palay cultivation.

The San Roque Dam system is capable of irrigating up to 50,000 ha, but officials warned it may not be able to fully service the area if planting proceeds in June.

Valdez noted that while the National Irrigation Administration typically follows a June planting calendar, the dam’s gates will be closed for 15 days during the month.

During this period, the reservoir is expected to recover through inflows of 20 cubic meters to 23 cubic meters per second from the Binga Dam, along with intermittent rainfall.

To help sustain irrigation supply, SRPC began running its power plant at full capacity of 115 megawatts on April 26, a schedule that will continue until May 30. Water discharged from the plant flows into the dam’s re-regulating pond before being released for irrigation.

“If the power plant stops operating, there will be no water flowing into the re-regulating pond,” Valdez explained.

He added that once the reservoir level drops to 225 masl, the plant can no longer generate power, which would also cut off irrigation supply from discharged water.

Augmentation

In extreme cases, the low-level outlet may be opened to provide irrigation, although he noted this scenario has rarely been necessary since operations began, as crops are often already harvested by then.

Farmers in Pangasinan and Tarlac are hoping that the Paitan Dam in Santa Maria town will be reopened to help augment irrigation supply from the San Roque Dam.

Oftociano Manalo, president of the Pambansang Mannalon, Maguuma, Magbabaul at Magsasaka ng Pilipinas (P4PMP), said the Paitan Dam has been closed since the San Roque Dam began operations in May 2003.

“Perhaps authorities believed that the San Roque Dam could sufficiently serve farmlands in Pangasinan and Tarlac, which led to the neglect of the Paitan Dam,” said Manalo, a native of Balungao, Pangasinan, in a phone interview with the Inquirer.

Manalo explained that the Paitan Dam receives excess water from the San Roque Dam’s re-regulating pond, as well as inflows from the Ambayaoan-Dipalo River. However, it lacks storage capacity, causing water to flow directly into the Agno River instead of being diverted to irrigation canals.

He said Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III has been pushing for the dam’s rehabilitation, with operations possibly resuming before the end of the year.

Manalo added that many farmers are considering shifting to contract growing of sorghum, driven by an expected steady market from a cattle farm being established by former Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol in Umingan.

“The cost of palay production is very high, especially with the ongoing war in the Middle East. Urea, an oil-based fertilizer, now costs more than P2,300 per bag, compared to just P1,000 before the war,” he said.

Manalo added, “Irrigation is also unreliable, and to make matters worse, our harvested palay is being bought at very low prices.” /cb /atm