“We are giving high priority on rainwater harvesting as a measure to address water availability,” said Agriculture Secretary William Dar during a farmers’ forum held on September 20, 2019 in La Trinidad, Benguet.

Dar mentioned that prior to becoming the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture rainwater harvesting has been his advocacy.

According to him, the Philippines annually receives about 2,400 millimeters (mm) of rainfall, one of the world’s highest.

“But we only harvest six percent of that rainfall. While India has only an average of 700 mm of rain annually but they harvest 60 percent of that. Kase kulang sila ng tubig during dry season. That is how important it is for them to harvest much of their rain,” Dar explained.

He said that the provinces in the Philippines are encountering the same problem on water availability.

“Kase nakakalbo na ang mga bundok. Ang unang kumalbo ay mga nagtotroso. Sinundan ng mga kaingin at mas lalo pa due to farming and vegetable gardening.”

According to studies, Benguet and some parts now of Cordillera have gone beyond the carrying capacity of the natural ecosystems due to human activities.

“So andiyan na ang problema ng probinsiya at mga munisipyo therefore we need to also balance things out,” Dar said.

He added that “while we want farming to succeed, we need to see to it that the carrying capacity of the ecosystem is observed. Otherwise palaging mayroon tayong problema sa water availability.”

Although the agri chief mentioned rainwater harvesting as a solution to water scarcity, he stressed that it is important to identify now the areas for agriculture and areas for re-vegetation or reforestation.

“But the long term measure is comprehensive land use at the provincial and municipal levels,” he added.

“Otherwise lumalaki ang populasyon at lumalaki din ang farming areas natin therefore our ecosystem is not able to carry all these series of human activities. Mas lumalala ang problema natin dito sa Cordillera,” Dar said.

“Alam natin na mataas ang rainfall sa atin at kung hindi natin iimbakan or impound ang mga tubig na yan ay magiging problema din ito doon sa lowland areas,” he added. ### (Rita dela Cruz)