Continued dry spell threatens

Continued dry spell threatens

150,000 has. of rice, corn lands in Isabela

By CHARLIE C. LAGASCA

ILAGAN, Isabela - The continued below-normal level of rainfall could eventually cause the destruction of thousands of hectares of rice and corn lands in Cagayan Valley, especially in this country's second largest province, which is also the country's top-most rice and corn-producing province, sources from the National Irrigation Authority (NIA) here said.

Edwin Pasion, NIA's flood forecasting officer here said that with the present critical level of the Magat Dam and Hydroelectric Power Project in Ramon, Isabela, which is just five meter above the critical level of 156 meters, they have been forced to reduce the irrigation outflow from the dam's irrigation component by 30 percent.

"This means that instead of being able to irrigate the ricefields unhampered, we will have to schedule the irrigation of the different sectors covered by our area, in order to fully serve all our clients," Pasion said.

Passion expressed fear that if the lack of rainfall persists until August, the dam will reach the critical level, the first to happen in seven years, which would mean a drastic reduction of irrigation supply to more than 100,000 hectares of rice and corn lands here, excluding the more than 50,000 hectares in some parts of Quirino and southern Cagayan, which also depend their irrigation waters from the Magat Dam.

"If this happens, then there will be areas which we will not be able to serve at all, meaning that these rice and corn fields will be left to the mercy of nature," Pasion said.

This possible scenario has created alarm among rice and corn farmers here who said the continued drought could result in a drastic reduction in their output come harvest time.

"What is worse, we might not even have any rice or corn to harvest if the dry spell continues until next month," said farmer Rodrigo Valdez in the vernacular.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, Astronomical and Scientific Administration said that the dry spell could continue even beyond August of this year.

Isabela is the top rice and corn producer in the whole country in terms of output per hectare, besting even Nueva Ecija, which was formerly considered as the country's rice bowl.

Built during the early 1980's, the Magat Dam, once the biggest in the entire Southeast Asia, irrigates more than 150,000 hectares of agricultural lands in southern Cagayan Valley region, with Isabela the biggest beneficiary of its irrigation waters. It also provides at least 500 megawatt for the Luzon grid.

Last year, as part of its rehabilitation efforts, the national government sold the Magat Dam's power component to the Aboitiz group of companies with the irrigation component still being run by the government through the NIA. CCL