The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) said it has entered into an agreement with the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) to determine the most efficient way of distributing irrigation water.
IRRI said it has inked a three-way memorandum of agreement with the NIA and Pinag-Isang Damdamin ng mga Magsasaka ng Mabacan River Irrigation System Inc. (Pidammaris), a farmers’ association, to conduct a study on the distribution of irrigation water.
“The project will look at rice productivity and water use, sustainability of rice-production systems, water quality and the overall operations and management of a local irrigation system, with the goal of developing a model approach for other irrigation systems under the NIA,” IRRI said in a statement.
The Los Baños-based institute noted rice uses approximately 30 percent of the freshwater used for crops worldwide. Also, more than 80 percent of developed freshwater resources are used to irrigate rice.
“Thus, any means to reduce the need for and actual usage of water without compromising yield will help improve distribution in areas with irrigation and improve supply in areas with scarce water supply,” IRRI said.
Under the agreement, IRRI would allocate 20 to 40 hectares of Zeigler Experiment Station (ZES) at its Laguna-based headquarters to serve as the research site for the project.
The NIA would provide the access to irrigation water from a main canal that it maintains, located at the lowland area of the IRRI farm, according to IRRI.
“To protect the water supply for other rice farms serviced by the NIA, a threshold will be determined, beyond which IRRI will be allowed access to water for purposes of the research,” IRRI said.
“Water use will be paid for by IRRI, which has also committed to assist the NIA in calibrating the Mabacan River Irrigation System [RIS], using IRRI instruments to measure flow rates, and IRRI staff to lead the collection. The Mabacan RIS flows out of a watershed in Calauan, a nearby municipality,” it added.
Pidammaris will be responsible in monitoring the discharges of irrigation water from the NIA canals flowing to the ZES and will also handle the maintenance of the canals and monitoring of the irrigation water quality,
according to IRRI.