URDANETA CITY – National Irrigation Administration (NIA) Administrator Arturo Lomibao has vowed to end the importation of rice by the year 2010 through improved irrigation systems nationwide.

      Speaking during the Provincial Congress of Pangasinan Federation of Irrigators’ Association, Inc. held at the gymnasium of the Divine Word College here, Lomibao said this can be done “if we follow the normal schedule, and there will be no hitches in between,” adding, “Then by 2010 we will not import rice anymore.”

      For Pangasinan, Lomibao assured the 2,500 farmers/irrigators attending the event held Nov. 18 that by 2010, there will no longer be a problem on irrigation in the province. Quoting sources from the Department of Agriculture (DA), he said, “We only lack as of the moment 800 million metric tons of rice, but if we accomplish all these super region projects… we will be producing two to three million metric tons which is more than enough for what we lack now.”

      The population growth within the next four years has also been factored in, he added. He cited the irrigation projects under the government’s super region concept, including the Banaoang Pump Irrigation project, the Agno River Integrated Irrigation Project (ARIIP), as well as irrigation projects in Mindanao, and the Casecnan dam as a crucial factor in reaching the rice self-sufficiency goal.

He said the super region projects have funds although these will not be implemented simultaneously.

      The ARIIP project, for example, is now on the resettlement and relocation stage while the Casecnan project that irrigates farmlands in Nueva Ecija has started. The Banaoang Pump Irrigation Project in Ilocos Sur is 50% complete. For the Mindanao project, a feasibility study is currently being undertaken while the rest of the projects have been guaranteed for implementation.

      The ARIIP was formerly called the San Roque multi-purpose project irrigation component of the San Roque Dam. This P7.8 billion project will irrigate 34,000 hectares in 17 Pangasinan towns once phase one is completed. Phase two will farmlands in Nueva Ecija.

      “We are very hopeful that by the year 2010, when the President (Gloria Macapagal-Arroryo) bows out from office, we will not import rice anymore,” Lomibao said.

Dialogues

      He said he has been conducting various dialogues/consultations with farmers around the country. He described the meetings as a “no-holds barred interaction with them to find out direct from the horses’ mouth their concerns so the NIA can act promptly.”

      “This is a very good forum to find out what is really happening on the ground,” he said.

He cited as an example that it was through the forum that he learned from a farmer that an irrigation system in Bugallon town was not repaired at all for the last 54 years.

      Lomibao also underscored the NIA’s Balik Sagip Patubig program which has a  P200-million budget for the year.

       Under this program, small irrigation projects can be undertaken with a counterpart funding from the local government units (LGUs). – EVA

Share your Comments or Reactions

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments