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DEVCOM
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Jalaur River:
Where the Life of Panay Flows The Construction of the Largest Dam outside Luzon WRITTEN BY MDPN. JOHN ROVIC LOPEZ
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ike any other farmer, his day starts even before the rooster crows. But as he gets up, he knows this early September morning will be different. Cracked soil, dry ponds, and an anticipated decline in his crop harvest—the drought season warmly greets him. Nono Latoza still considers himself fortunate that after his years of painstaking work as an electrician and as a farmer, he now owns the 1.75 hectares of land he tills intended for rice fields
alone. The richness of the soil has provided him and his family a source of income and food for over 30 years now. Several of his children have already graduated with respective degrees, and the family has been self-sufficient in food as their livestock has also flourished. His biggest setback is always the lack of water resources to irrigate his farmlands and supply water to his animals. That’s why in dry seasons when his harvest is always at stake, he can feel the
common struggle of almost all Filipino farmers. Nono’s usual harvest of 70-100 sacks of rice is often reduced to only about 30 sacks, depending on how bad the dry season gets. The two culprits to be blamed for this huge loss in Nono’s harvest are the drought and the lack of water supply. The former can be addressed through long-term mitigation. The latter, however, can be alleviated through development programs like irrigation projects.
The DOLPHIN | NOVEMBER 2021
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