BACOLOD City — Irrigators in Negros Occidental are preparing for the possible effects of the El Niño phenomenon after monitoring showed a decline in the water level at the Bago River Irrigation System (BRIS) dam.
The Federation of Irrigators’ Association of Central Negros–Bago River Irrigation System (FIACN-BRIS) has intensified water management measures to ensure a steady irrigation supply for thousands of farmers served by the system.
FIACN-BRIS President Padro Limpangog said the federation observed a decrease in the dam’s water level during its latest inspection. However, he noted that no updated monitoring report was available as of this writing to determine whether the water level had continued to decline.
Despite the situation, Limpangog assured farmers that available water is being managed efficiently to minimize any adverse impact on rice production.
“Our priority is to manage the available water efficiently so that farmers will continue to receive the irrigation they need,” he said.
Limpangog said farmers in the North District have already started planting rice for the current cropping season, while those in the South District are already in the vegetative stage of crop growth.
He added that the federation has yet to implement a rotational irrigation scheme, such as alternating one week of water delivery with one week without irrigation. Instead, irrigation is currently being prioritized in the North District, where land preparation and planting activities are still underway.
As part of its contingency measures for a prolonged dry spell, the federation is prepared to adopt water distribution strategies that proved effective during previous droughts to ensure irrigation reaches rice-producing areas.
FIACN-BRIS is also encouraging farmers to adopt the alternate wetting and drying (AWD) method, a water-saving irrigation technique that improves water-use efficiency while maintaining or even increasing rice yields.
Limpangog expressed hope that rice farms would be spared from severe losses similar to those recently experienced by the sugar industry due to infestations of the red-striped soft scale insect (RSSI).
“We hope our rice crops will not experience the same situation as the sugarcane industry because rice is the primary food source of our people,” he said.
The Bago River Irrigation System supplies irrigation water to more than 13,000 hectares of rice fields cultivated by over 8,000 farmers across Negros Occidental./PN
