DAVAO CITY – Farmers in Davao del Sur have aborted their scheduled planting of crops as the National Irrigation Administration’s (NIA’s) announcement of a dwindling water supply served as their early warning that their crops would only be withered by the prolonged dry spell caused by El Niño.

NIA Region 11 Director Felix M. Razo said some 680 hectares of land were not planted and farmers were told not to plant crops to no avail.

“We already knew before the crop season that the water levels there had dropped. With that, we used it as an early sign to save farmers from production loss,” Razo told reporters in a press conference, here, the other night.

Razo was referring to the ricelands in Matanao, Davao del Sur where water from the Mal Irrigation System decreased by 50 percent.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) identified Davao del Sur as one of the areas being seared by the El Niño phenomenon.

Meanwhile, the NIA 11 is urging farmers to cooperate with the irrigation body through clustering with communal irrigation associations to sustain adequate crop growth and yield.

“If there is no cooperation from farmers through irrigation associations, water management would not become effective,” Nestor N. Rama, president of the board of trustees of the Regional Communal Irrigation Assocation (RCIA) 11.

Data from NIA 11 revealed that a total of 203 irrigation associations (IA) were organized and strengthened in irrigation projects and systems covering an area of 48,925 hectares.

Meanwhile, the irrigation body convened Thursday to address regionwide issues and concerns in irrigation development.