Good news for farmers: downpour in north, northeast

THE Irrigation Department is preparing to release more water for rice farmers in irrigated areas of Ayutthaya, Lop Buri and Sing Buri provinces following heavy rainfall in the North and Northeast over the past several days that boosted water reserve levels in major dams.
Suthep Noipairote, deputy head of the Irrigation Department, said the initial water discharge was aimed at paddy fields in the three provinces to help crop survival.

Earlier, the government cut the volume released from dams for farming to conserve water for household use.
Interior Minister Anupong Paochinda said the water resources management panel would review the amount of water being released from the Bhumiphol, Sirikit, Pasak Cholasit, and Kwai Noi dams. It was earlier cut from 28 million cubic metres per day to 18 million cubic metres, a move that affected 22 provinces downstream.
The Department of Agriculture Extension, meanwhile, will seek Cabinet approval for Bt400 million to help rice farmers whose paddy fields were damaged by the water cut-off.

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Suthep said rice farmers as well as fruit and orchid growers in Ayutthaya, Sing Buri and Lop Buri should get additional water by tomorrow with damaged paddy fields estimated to be less than 1.4 million rai, now that the prospects of heavy rainfall by August have improved. Previously, there were worries the water shortage would worsen if the seasonal rains did not come next month.
Suthep said the situation at major dams such as Bhumiphol and Sirikit had improved with an inflow of 19 million cubic metres and 119 million cubic metres, respectively. And the level of the Chao Phraya dam is now 13.8 metres above the median sea level, resulting in an inflow for the Chai Nat-Pasak waterway, which supplies water for tap water production in Saraburi and Lop Buri provinces.
In Phitsanulok province, Somwang Parasuksan, director of the Kwai Noi Dam, said the water reserve level had risen following heavy rain over the past few days with a daily inflow of more than 1-2 million cubic metres. Yesterday the dam had a total of 100 million cubic metres, 57.5 million cubic metres of which was “useable”.
In Lop Buri province, the situation is still worrying because several hundred households do not have enough water for consumption and daily use.
Olarn Pitak, director-general of the Department of Agriculture Extension, said the government would provide loans to rice farmers affected by the drought so they could diversify to other crops that use less water.
Farmers will be charged an interest rate of only 2 per cent per annum. The funds would come from a Bt400 million budget to be sought from the government.
Meanwhile, the government has accelerated implementation of the groundwater programme with a target to dig a total of 1,000 artesian wells for one million rai of farmland. So far, there are wells for only 66,000 rai of farmland.