The National Irrigation Authority on Wednesday revealed that the water level of the Pantabangan Dam in Nueva Ecija is continuing to decline which resulted to farmlands in Central Luzon not able to be reached by water irrigation facilities.

NIA administrator Engr. Eduardo Guillen also disclosed that because of the decrease in the dam’s water levels, at least seven hectares of land in Central Luzon is unirrigated.

“We are harvesting, and what we noticed is that the average yield of our farmers now is around 8 tons, so our yield is still good at present,” said Guillen, adding that during the dry season, the palay yield is higher, assuring that the onslaught of El Niño will not affect the food supply in the country.

“The truth is, if only we had complete irrigation, we would prefer to have El Niño so that we have more sun and more yield,” Guillen said.

He stressed that the NIA’s budget increased during the Marcos administration, resulting in more irrigated lands being turned over to farmers this year.

“This year, we will reach 50,000 hectares that we will turn over. There are more now, before there were only 20,000,” said the NIA official.