DA pushes anew rainwater harvesting for added irrigation

By Rose de la Cruz

The Departments of Agriculture plans to forge partnerships with other local government agencies to collect rainfall which can be used for irrigation to boost the country’s food production since the country gets 2.5 meters of rainfall each year.

The DA recently met with officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) to consolidate their efforts not only in controlling floods but also in using available water for irrigating farmlands.

“The problem is that there are flood control schemes, but these do not take into consideration the production areas,” explained DA Undersecretary Roger Navarro for operations. He said the DPWH’s role is to ensure that floods reach the sea, while the DA sees to it that farmlands have enough water for crops. 

“Now under our convergence efforts, the DPWH will work on the main canal, while the DA would like to do the peripheral canal. That canal will be used for channeling water to farm areas,” he said.

Navarro said a memorandum of agreement for the convergence efforts will be signed before the year ends since this is “a priority.” 

Among the signatories are the DA, DPWH, NIA, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. 

As early as  2013, rainwater harvesting was pushed vigorously by the DA andDILG  to augment water in the country, reduce incidents of flooding and improve the water supply especially in upland areas where water scarcity is frequently experienced.

And with severe floods brought by habagat and intense typhoons, the need for trapping and harvesting rainwater in improvised catchment systems, small dams and even drums in schools have become imperative to stretch water supplies during droughts and El Nino episodes, as previously  experienced by the country.