To be able to secure Filipino farmers stable rice output amid the threats brought on by the El Niño phenomenon, the Department of Agriculture said that a low-water-use technology is already underway.

Agriculture Assistant Secretary for Operations U-Nichols Manalo identified the farming strategies as alternate wetting and drying which utilizes less water for farming, and quick turn around which allows immediate rice replanting right after harvest.

"AWD is a water-saving technology that rice farmers can apply to reduce their water use in irrigated fields," said Manalo in a Task Force El Niño meeting earlier this week. "On the other hand, QTA is a strategy wherein all rice farms, after harvest, shall quickly replant immediately without waiting for the months of the succeeding planting season to begin.”

Based on DA’s latest record, over a million farmers have already been reached out to by the government for implementation of the water-saving technology in nearly 15,000 hectares of rice farms.

They target implementing the QTA on more than 26,000 hectares.

Meanwhile, Manalo said that some farmers have also started replanting over 5,500 hectares of rice.

“The DA immediately implemented these measures in compliance with President Marcos’ Executive Order No. 53 which directs the government to streamline, reactivate, and reconstitute the old El Niño task forces under EO No. 16 (s. 2001) and Memorandum Order No. 38 (s. 2019).”

“Signed on 19 January 2024, President Marcos’ executive order directs the task force to develop a comprehensive disaster preparedness and rehabilitation plan for El Niño and La Niña to provide “systematic, holistic, and results-driven interventions” to help the public cope and minimize their devastating effects.”

Last month, the National Irrigation Authority said that a whole-of-government approach was taken to ensure the formulation of efficient mitigating measures for El Niño.

NIA Administrator, Engr. Eduardo Guillen said that as early as October 2023, local and national agencies had already begun close coordinating and crafting interventions for the weather phenomenon,

The NIA’s funds had doubled this year, said Guillen, which will be used for the establishment of solar pump irrigation and additional dams, among others.