PUBLIC irrigation systems were able to service a total area of 1.034 million hectares of rice lands from May 2010 to March 2011, according to figures released by the National Irrigation Administration (NIA).
NIA administrator Antonio Nangel said the irrigation systems under the attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA) irrigated 546,363 hectare during the wet season of May to October 2010, and 490,153 hectares. during the dry season of November 2010 to March 2011. The agency, however, did not release comparative figures.
The government reported that cropping intensity in the country’s rice lands reached 135 percent. Experts define cropping intensity as the number of croppings within a year for a certain crop.
The NIA reported that it continued to implement five foreign-assisted, 23 locally funded, three interagency, and seven carryover projects. Seven of these are located in Luzon, seven in the Visayas and five in Mindanao in 2010. Around 19 subprojects were carried out in selected provinces.
For 2011 Nangel said the NIA would continue to implement five ongoing and one new foreign-assisted project, three interagency ongoing and five carryover projects.
Some of the NIA’s major ongoing projects include the Help for the Catubig agricultural and advancement project in Northern Samar, the Agno River integrated irrigation project in Pangasinan, and the Phase 1 of the participatory irrigation development project in various areas of the country.
The government is planning to rehabilitate and construct more irrigation systems to hit its target of eliminating rice imports by 2013.
Under the 2011-16 Rice Self-Sufficiency Plan (RSSP) drafted by the government, the Philippines is targeting to produce 17.46 million metric tons (MMT) in 2011, 19.2 MMT in 2012, 21.12 MMT in 2013, 21.76 MMT in 2014, 22.41 in 2015 and 23.08 in 2016.
The projected palay requirements of the Philippines are 20.68 MMT in 2011, 20.9 MMT in 2012, 21.11MMT in 2013, 21.56 MMT in 2014, 22.02 MMT in 2015 and 22.49 MMT.
The DA noted that 2,004 kilometers of farm-to-market roads were completed from July 2010 to April 2011.
During the first year of the Aquino administration, the DA implemented a total of 64 ongoing foreign-assisted projects (FAPs) worth P50.5 billion. Of this amount, P25.8 billion is funded by loans, P8.9 billion by grants and P15.9 billion by local counterparts. This is on top of 14 locally funded projects worth P7.24 billion.
Of FAPs, the Mindanao Rural Development Project, which covers 26 provinces and 225 municipalities in Mindanao, got the biggest funding of P7.5 billion.
