Farmers of Bgy. Villa Paz in the Municipality of El Nido will soon benefit the recently completed Small Irrigation Project (SIP) in the next cropping period.
According to National Irrigation Administration (NIA)-Palawan Spokesperson Daryle Cayao, the advent of the new project will boost the productivity of the beneficiaries in the next planting season.
“Sa isang taon po, usually nagtatanim ang farmers during wet and dry season (twice a year), pero ‘pag sobra ang tubig, possible na makapag-third crop sila (trice a year) ang tanim nila,” Cayao said, emphasizing the importance of adequate supply of water to farmers’ productivity.
President Florencio M. Tagulob of Zap Alliv Irrigators Association (IA) is thankful for the support of NIA. According to him, CARP-IC project in Bgy. Villa Paz will greatly benefit their families, raise their income and achieve sufficient rice supply in the municipality in times of pandemic.
Recently, NIA-Palawan Irrigation Management Office (PIMO) conducted a test run for the Villa Paz SIP, an irrigation project funded by the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program-Irrigation Component (CARP-IC), to ensure that the completed project can be efficiently used by 27 farmer beneficiaries to increase their crop production as support for their economic development due to the effect of COVID-19 pandemic.
The mandatory test run procedures, led by Palawan IMO Division Manager Conrado V. Cardenas Jr., together with Institutional Development Unit (IDU) Sr. IDO Glenda G. Buenavista, Palawan IMO staff and LGU representatives, also aimed to guarantee that the inflow of water from Batacalan River can support the targeted 29 hectares of rice field in the said barangay.
In 2019, phase I of CARP-IC project was awarded to Yurich Builders and Construction Supply and implemented with the project cost of P11,356,177.25. The said project that was completed last June 1, 2020 covers the construction of diversion dam with solar dryer and 1.29 kilometer total length of canal lining.
This year, with approved budget contract of P8,072,598.98, construction of phase II of Villa Paz SIP has been started for the extension of the project’s canal lining up to 1.691 kilometer. It is targeted to be completed before 2021 and aimed to irrigate the additional area of 23 hectares of rice field in the Municipality of El Nido.