Irrigation project will make province a rice granary
GREAT expectations are being placed on the Agno River Integrated Irrigation Project (ARIIP).
“Babalik ang Pangasinan na rice granary pag tapos na yan,” said Engineer Laurence Acebedo, assistant project manager for ARIIP.
ARIIP, currently under construction in San Manuel town and targeted for completion by 2013, will serve as an irrigation re-regulating pond that will benefit some 35,000 hectares of farmlands from eastern and central Pangasinan.
“Sa ngayon nakikita na yong pagtaas ng produksyon sa mga lugar na naayos na natin yong irrigation facilities, mas lalong maramdaman ng ating farmers ang benepisyo pag operational na yong re-regulating pond,” Acebedo told newsmen.
The pond will cover an area of 85 hectares and can hold five million cubic meters of water used by the San Roque dam power generation facility.
Construction of the P4.5-billion pond project started early this year using a loan from the China Eximbank. The total project cost is estimated at P11.3 billion.
Under ARIIP, the canals of the Agno River Irrigation System (ARIS) and the Ambayaoan-Dipalo Irrigation System (ADRIS) are also undergoing rehabilitation.
Farmlands in the towns of Mapandan, Malasiqui, Sta. Barbara and Calasiao of the third district; Mangaldan and Manaoag of the fourth district; Laoac, Binalonan, Urdaneta City and Villasis of the fifth district; and Asingan, San Manuel, Natividad, San Nicolas, San Quintin, Sta. Maria, Tayug and Balungao of the sixth district will benefit from the improved irrigation system.
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