By Suzy May Roa
DA-RFU 10
May 21,2010


Small Farm Reservoirs to Irrigate 6 Hectares of Vegetable Area in Region 10


As part of their goal in helping farmers achieve sustainable agriculture, the Department of Agriculture Regional Field Unit 10 through the High Value Commercial Crops (HVCC) Program in coordination with the LGUs has another project included in CY 2010. The development of a Small Farm Reservoir ( SFR) project will help farmers become good producers of commercially grown vegetables like eggplants, string beans, okra, pechay and ampalaya.

The SFR project is funded under the GMA-High Value Commercial Crops Program and implemented by the Regional Agriculture Engineering Division (RAED) of DA 10. The DA 10 has allocated P460,000 to finance 23 sites were the reservoirs will be established. These SFRs will then be constructed in the area that passed the identification, inspection and validation criteria set by the HVCC and RAED.

In choosing the sites, the recipients are first endorsed by the LGUs concerned and pre-qualified and validated by DA10. Criteria for recipients to qualify for the said project are: 1.) The recipient must have an area to develop as a pond either 500square meters ( sq. m.) and 1 meter deep or 250 square meters( sq. m.) and 2 meters deep.; 2.) The area to be developed as a reservoir must have a service area of at least 2,500 square meters or ¼ hectare. ; 3.) And the dike must be at least 1 meter. Failure to meet the criteria will disqualify prospective recipients to avail of the said project.

Currently the HVCC and RAED has already identified and validated 20 sites. Of the 20 sites, 10 of which is located in Libona, 2 in Kalilangan, 7 in Manolo Fortich all in Bukidnon Province, 1 in Aloran, Misamis Occidental while there are still 3 prospective sites, 2 in Balingoan, Misamis Oriental and 1 in Valencia City Bukidnon, that are subject to the validation of the Regional Evaluation Team.

A Small Farm Reservoir ( SFR) is an earth dam structure used to trap, harvest and store rainfall and water runoff. This technology allows the storing of rainfall and runoff during the wet season that can be used during the dry season. The SFR’s basic components are: Catchment Area - high points bound the catchment area from which the runoff drains into the reservoir. The Reservoir- is the portion where water is stored by an earth embankment. And the Service Area -is the portion of the farm being irrigated using the stored water from the reservoir, this is the area were the grown vegetables are planted. In times of heavy rainfall the SFR aids in soil and water conservation. It also reduces the velocity of the water flow from higher areas which in turn minimizes soil erosion and nutrient losses.

Source:http://www.da.gov.ph/newindex2.php?pass=News_events/2010/may/may21_2010b.html