Growing lowland rice requires a lot of water, according to the Laguna-based International Rice Research Institute. Irri said it takes 1,432 liters of water to produce 1 kilogram of rice in an irrigated lowland production system. The amount is equivalent to the daily water intake of more than 500 men and women who will consume an average of 2.5 liters a day.
Irri said irrigated rice receives an estimated 34 percent to 43 percent of the world’s irrigation water, or about 24 percent to 30 percent of the entire world’s developed fresh water resources. The institute noted that continuous flooding of water generally provides the best growth environment for rice. Without the requisite amount of water, rice stalks would produce fewer grains.
Top rice consuming countries, including the Philippines, would need huge amounts of water to produce the grains required by their growing population. Unfortunately, the increasing requirement of an expanding population for fresh water is shrinking available water resources. And, according to the World Bank, demand for water would soon outstrip supply (See, “Water lack worsening food insecurity—WB,” in the BusinessMirror, August 30, 2022).
World Bank Water Global Practice Global Director Saroj Kumar Jha—citing estimates made by the International Monetary Fund (IMF)—said water demand will outstrip supply by 40 percent in less than a decade. Jha said water scarcity is a growing problem, with one in four people living in water-scarce areas. Delivering safe water and ensuring water supply would require huge investments, pegged at around $150 billion a year to put in place the necessary infrastructure and interventions.
Here in the Philippines, the National Economic and Development Authority estimated that some P100 billion would have to be invested annually between 2020 and 2030 to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, spending on water-related initiatives has reached only P5 billion, according to the Neda (See, “PHL has to invest P1.1T until ’30 for water, sanitation,” in the BusinessMirror, September 16, 2021). Because of low investments, only 44 percent of Filipino households have individual connection to a proper and fully reticulated waterworks system.
Failure to put in place the necessary reforms to improve the allocation and delivery of water would have implications for health and hygiene as well as food production. Here in Luzon, irrigation for rice fields is cut off whenever water in dams falls to a critical level. Drinking water for residents in the National Capital Region is prioritized over farms in Central Luzon that rely on irrigation water from Angat Dam.
The World Bank said this practice of reallocating water from agriculture to other uses would increase in frequency in the coming years as water becomes scarce. Sans adequate investments in the maintenance or irrigation and drainage systems and other water-related initiatives, Filipinos must brace for more expensive food and higher health expenses. It would do well for the new administration to focus on improving the water sector, which is in line with the administration’s priority of increasing food production and ensuring the country’s food security.