FARMERS are bracingfor the dry spell, preserving as much water as possible for their farms.
Rice, cane and vegetable farmers in the Northern Division have cut back on the use of water, saving more for their farms because of the El Nino season.
Sushil Chand, a farmer at Tabia outside Labasa, said the creek beside his house had dried up.
"I depend on that creek to water my garden and vegetable farms but now that it has dried up, I use the well," he said.
"But I have cut down on that because I will need it until early next year during this dry season.
"The well doesn't have much water so I water the vegetable garden once a day instead of twice a day just to save some water for the upcoming season," Mr Chand said.
Another farmer, Suresh Kumar, said he volunteered to hire a carrier to a neighbour's place in Tabia to fetch water from the river.
"Once a week I hire my brother's carrier and fill at least two drums to water my vegetable garden," he said. "I have a rice farm and it is also affected by this dry season so I keep the water for my vegetable farms to feed my family."
Principal agriculture officer Suliasi Tawake said a long dry spell was a threat to crop production.
