BY IRA KAREN APANAY Senior Reporter

AS part of the water conservation measures of the government, the Department of Agriculture has started to rationalize the use of irrigation water by scheduling their use in farming communities to ease the impact of the El Niño dry spell on the agriculture and fisheries sector.

Agriculture Undersecretary Bernie Fondevilla said that while water in irrigation facilities and dams remain adequate, it is better to conserve this precious commodity while the country is experiencing a moderate El Niño attack.

“We are rationalizing the use of irrigation water but that doesn’t mean that it is not enough,” said Fondevilla explaining that “Water supply remains adequate for our farms and we are just resorting to conservation in the face of a Pagasa-forecasted prolonged dry spell this year. So what we will do is to provide our farmers with just enough water that they need and schedule its release so that we wouldn’t waste water in irrigating their croplands.”

Citing the assessment by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), Fondevilla said that while the latest onslaught of El Niño appears to be a mild or moderate one, it could be longer than usual, though, and could possibly last till July instead of only in May or June.

Fondevilla said the Agriculture department will coordinate with local governments so it can maximize the use of irrigation water by scheduling or synchronizing its release in El Niño-affected farms.

He said water conservation measures should be implemented even beyond El Niño’s onslaught as part of the government’s long-term measures to ensure the adequate supply of water to farms.

“The DA, for one, is now studying a plan to place concrete linings in irrigation canals to prevent water seepage,” he said.

On top of rationalizing the release of irrigation water, the other mitigation measures include cloud seeding operations over watershed areas; provision of pumps, engine sets, fishcages, vegetable seeds; building small scale irrigation facilities; and alternative livelihood assistance.

Earlier, Fondevilla said the Agriculture department is realigning P1.2 billion from its regular budget this year to bankroll a slew of El Niño mitigation measures.

Of this amount, the department is carrying out P570 million-worth of intervention measures for the palay sector, Fondevilla said.

Under its 2010 El Niño Mitigation Program, the department will also set aside P613.7 million to carry out intervention programs for the corn subsector; another P411 million for high value commercial crops (HVCC); and P117.4 million more for fisheries, Fondevilla said.

Fondevilla said that based on studies made by the department, a total of 453,204 hectares of land planted to palay, 227,843 hectares of corn areas and 14,160 hectares in the fisheries sector are threatened under a prolonged El Niño attack.

Total production losses under a mild El Niño scenario could reach P8.09 billion and P20.46 billion under a severe dry spell, Fondevilla said.

Under a mild El Niño, he said the Agriculture department estimates losses of 264,940 metric tons of rice worth close to P4 billion and 174,224 MT of corn valued at P2.26 billion.

The fisheries subsector could lose 21,181 MT of catch worth P1.27 billion, he said, while losses in the HVCC sector could reach 3.17 million MT valued at P583 million under a mild El Niño attack.

He said a severe dry spell could lead to losses of 816,372 MT of rice worth P12.24 billion;440,429 MT of corn worth P5.2 billion; 42,362 MT of marine catch worth P2.54 billion; and 3.08 million MT of HVCCs worth 443 million.