The National Irrigation Administration is deploying a multi-pronged strategy to cushion the impact of El Niño on irrigated farmlands, combining cropping calendar adjustments, solar pump installations, desilting operations, and brush dam construction under a short, medium, and long-term adaptation framework, its administrator said Saturday.
NIA Administrator Eduardo Guillen made the disclosure in an interview on DZRH News program Special on Saturday on June 13, saying the agency’s El Niño response is anchored on a resiliency approach that addresses both drought and typhoon risks through coordinated interventions.
“Ang focus po kasi natin dito Secretary is yung tinatawag na resiliency. So ang ginagawa natin dito meron tayong mga mitigation, lalo na yung mga adaptation projects po. So yung short-term, medium-term, and long-term solutions po natin nakakasa po iyan,” Guillen said.
He said NIA is shifting cropping calendars nationwide to steer planting schedules away from both drought periods and typhoon seasons, reducing crop losses from weather extremes on both ends of the climate spectrum.
Guillen said NIA is also implementing the alternate wetting and drying technology across its irrigation systems, which saves up to 30% of water — a critical measure during periods of reduced water supply driven by El Niño conditions.
He said the President has provided heavy equipment to NIA for desilting operations along rivers and irrigation canals, while brush dams are being constructed to impound water in areas where large infrastructure is not feasible.
The solar pump irrigation systems being installed nationwide—part of the same program replacing old diesel and electric pumping stations — also serve as a key El Niño adaptation tool, providing reliable water access independent of fuel costs and grid availability, Guillen said.
He said all of NIA’s climate adaptation projects are now in full implementation, with food security remaining the overarching priority driving the agency’s budget and operational decisions under the Marcos administration.
