Villar: Drought in irrigation funds compounding rice crisis

The country's hunger for rice can only be met if the thirst of farms for water will be quenched, Senate President Manny Villar said today in urging the government to launch a "catch-up plan" on irrigation.

Villar, also former chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, said while the country has a potential irrigable land area of 3.126 million hectares, only half , or 1.427 million hectares, is serviced by irrigation.

This year's P8 billion allocation for irrigation would only increase the irrigated area by 22,186 hectares, he said.

"At this rate, it will take the government 64 years to bring water to all of the potential areas. This drought in irrigation funds should not be allowed, "Villar added.

The newly irrigated areas, if all will be planted to rice, can produce around 80,000 metric tons of palay annually, short of the 236,800 metric tons that two million Filipinos who are added to the population ever year would need , Villar said.

Ideally, the expansion in irrigation should keep pace with the increase in population "because you can't grow rice without water," Villar said , noting that it takes "5,000 liters of water to produce one kilo of rice."

"It has been said that to produce one Coke litro of rice, which contains two kilos, you will need about 10,000 bottles of Coke litro of water, " he said.

Villar also doubted whether the 22,186 hectares that Malacanang claims will be put under irrigation in 2008 are all newly-serviced areas "because some of these are existing areas up for rehabilitation"

He also found the average development cost per hectare, at P360, 500, "seems to be above standard cost".

A government "price list" for various irrigation modes that was issued five years ago, even if adjusted for inflation, would nowhere come near that figure, Villar said.

A per hectare cost of a national irrigation project was about P100,000 for a new one and about P10,000 for rehabilitation while in communal irrigation systems the cost would be P70,000 per hectare for a new one and P45,000 per hectare for repair.

Deepwells cost P30,000 per hectare, while a shallow well tube amounted to P20,000.

Small river and small water impounding systems ranged from about P80,000 to P180,000-per hectare .