Agriculture Undersecretary Joel Rudinas said Monday farmers will be hampered by the long dry spell since the absence of water would impact heavily on the next palay cropping season.

Rudinas said over the weekend that the recurrent El Niño episode will compel the country to implement a more systematic use of scant water resources, perhaps to the extent of unifying all agencies dealing with water and naming a water czar as well.

He disclosed that he is particularly keen on crafting a water harvesting program, explaining that farmers in rainfed areas in Ilocos Norte and other areas have already established water impounding facilities to ensure they have water during the dry season.

“Farmers will need more water to prepare the fields for planting. More water is needed since the soil has caked, and this requires additional volume,” Rudinas said.

“We have to use more drought-resistant and flood-resistant rice seeds to ensure that we can produce enough palay to achieve some level of food security,” he said.

Rudinas told the Manila Bulletin in the last edition of the Friday Balitaan sa Rembrandt that in Vietnam and Thailand, farmers resort to water conservation in the Mekong Delta since they could rely on the mighty rivers that drain into their countries.

He said other countries have already established dams to trap the water, and this has affected the volume of water flowing downstream.