Perak farmers wising up to water innovation in face of heat

IPOH: The current El-Nino phenomenon has got the better of farmers in Perak as they wise up to water innovation in ensuring crops are not affected by the hot weather.
Perak Agriculture Department director Noor Azmi Yahya said among measures taken by the farmers were collecting water which could be re-used to water plants in specially-prepared drains or channels.
"The farmers will go all out to modify ways of watering the plants to save water.
"This means the water used for watering (plants), will flow into these drains for re-cycling, instead of flowing elsewhere," he told Bernama here today.
Apart from that, Noor Azmi said some farmers had built ponds and tube wells in their farms.
He said farmers who obtained water supply from ponds and tube wells would source for water from nearby rivers if their supply reduced due to the impact of the current hot weather.
"Water supply from ponds and tube wells will depend on the land level. Therefore, farmers will pump water from the rivers into the pond if required," he said.
Elaborating, Noor Azmi said the farmers' clever planning could at least ensure that vegetables, fruits and rice supply in Perak were sufficient.
He said so far, the department had not received any report or complaint from farmers on crop destruction due to drought or lack of water.
In addition, Noor Azmi said padi supply could be affected by about 40% if the current hot and dry conditions persisted.
However, Noor Azmi said the government had established irrigation schemes which were better and more stable by ensuring that water for padi cultivation were from rivers, rarely affected by the dry weather.
"For example, padi farms in Kerian obtain their source of water from Sungai Kerian and Tasek Bukit Merah, while padi fields in Seberang Perak get water supply from Sungai Perak. The water source for padi fields around Sungai Manik is from Sungai Batang Padang.
On the department's efforts in coping with the hot season, Noor Azmi said operation rooms had been set up in every district to receive reports and complaints.
"The department also provides water pumps which can be loaned to farmers affected by the water shortage," he added. — AFP