Angat irrigation cutoff won’t hurt farms
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—Cutting off irrigation supply from Angat Dam to 20,000 hectares in Bulacan and 2,000 ha in Pampanga from June to July would not affect rice production in those provinces, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA) director in Central Luzon.
“There will be no effect because the shutoff is being done when the harvest season of palay is over,” Andrew Villacorta, DA regional director, told the Inquirer by telephone on Wednesday.
Government protocol requires that when the water level at the 47-year-old dam in Bulacan falls below 180 meters above sea level (masl), irrigation is cut off while drinking water supply to Metro Manila and hydropower input to the Luzon grid are given priority.
On Tuesday, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) recorded the level to have dropped to 179.99 masl.
Villacorta said planting for the wet season would be adjusted to August when the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) receives its share of water from the dam. Pagasa is expecting rainfall to be above normal by that time, he said.
Farmers who grow crops during the off-season (called “pasulpot”) usually draw water from rivers or deep wells.
The dry spell in 2014 affected the region, particularly Nueva Ecija province, when the Pantabangan Dam did not reach the desired level, Villacorta said. Farmers tilling 30,000 ha at the tail end of the dam resorted to using water pumps and deep wells to support their farms during the dry season.
Central Luzon made a “record-breaking” mark when farmers contributed 65 percent to the 18.9 million metric tons of rice produced in the country in 2014, Villacorta said.
He said the regional rice production improved because there were no severe floods and planters used hybrid and quality seeds. NIA, he said, also restored irrigation canals while the DA provided more technical assistance to farmers.
