Balita.ph
June 25, 2014 12:21 pm
By Ben Moises Ebreo

BAYOMBONG, NUEVA VIZCAYA, June 25 (PNA) — The on-going rehabilitation and development of the province’s major irrigation system will be completed soon, and expected to boost rice productivity among farmers.

Engr. Francisco Domingsil said the Colocol Irrigation System(CIS) rehabilitation and extension project is expected to irrigate 3,000 hectares of rice land in the municipalities of Bayombong, Solano, Villaverde and Bagabag including neighboring municipalities.

“By virtue of an approved request to partially operate as a national irrigation system issued by top management last June 4, 2014, we are now irrigating some 500 hectares in barangays Luyang, La Torre and Casat in Bayombong town and barangay Wacal in Solano town,” he said.

Domingsil said that by the last quarter of this year, they will be able to irrigate the CIS’ total service area towards the town of Villaverde.

He also expressed elation over the feedback from several farmers covered by the project, saying that irrigation water has ever since improved , bringing more harvest for the farmers.

NIA provides irrigation water to farmer associations in the province through a memorandum of agreement forged in year 2012, diverting waters from the Colocol creek for the farmers’ ricefields.

While we have improved our services to the farmers, we were also able to improve our collection on irrigation fees. In fact, we have attained almost 100 percent irrigation service fee collection for every cropping since last year,” Domingsil said.The NIA, he added, is also concentrating its efforts to complete 15 on-going projects under their Communal Irrigation Project category and provides maintenance assistance to irrigators’ associations by providing them heavy equipment 'for free' in collaboration with the provincial government.

“The provincial government provides fuel assistance in order to carry out maintenance works for our damaged irrigation systems in the province,” Domingsil said.

He said this is one of the many interventions being implemented to enable farmers cushion the impact of the El Nino phenomenon in the province. (PNA)

CTB/SCD/BMEBREO

Source: Nueva Vizcaya’s rehab of major irrigation system nears completion