PhilRice introduces controlled irrigation tech

MALOLOS CITY – Farmers in Luzon and other rain-starved parts of the country need not panic about a looming drought, the Nueva Ecija-based Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) said.

Diadem Gonzales, a senior science research specialist at PhilRice, said more farmers are adopting the controlled irrigation technology, which involves alter-nate wetting and drying of paddies by using only the basic amount of water.

The technology, he said, is in contrast to the traditional practice of farmers to continuously water the paddies.