Small water flow brings joy to rice farmers
AS SOON as water began flowing into their paddy fields again yesterday, farmers in Lop Buri's Ban Mi district felt like they were on cloud nine. "I am over the moon. I feel like heaven," said Surat Rueangroong, 69.
He said it had broken his heart to walk around the paddy fields for the past month and see his rice plants wither from lack of water, day after day.
The Royal Irrigation Department had allowed farmers in Surat’s town to pump water into their fields.
“We are permitted to do so for just one day. But it’s still better than nothing and we understand that we have to share water with farmers in other zones too,” the farmer said.
Ayutthaya Governor Apichart Dodilokwej said the government was trying to support about 100,000 rai of fields where rice had first started to sprout. “We are prioritising the needs for water in each zone,” he said.
With supply tight, the government had resolved to cut water for farms in a bid to ensure people would still have water for their daily activities until the annual rains start. However, authorities are also trying to ensure that they can ease farmers’ woes where possible. And some farmers have already managed to turn the drought crisis into an opportunity.
In Uttaradit’s Laplae district, locals in Ban Pong Kachee are now doing well with their new livelihood – making mushroom spawn for sale. “Months ago, we were told to postpone growing rice until adequate rain arrived. So, we started looking for supplementary jobs. We need to earn money,” farmer Namneung Jeamklin said yesterday.
Locals in Ban Pong Kachee looked around their neighbourhood and saw that it had plenty of sawdust because there were many wood-processing factories nearby.In Sukhothai province, many farmers decided to grow cassava in place of rice in the face of the water shortage.
“Cassava requires little water. We have to go for it,” said Jamroon Sukpan, the kamnan of Tambon Nong Chik.
