P300 million Japan-funded irrigation completed

MANILA, Philippines — The Japanese government has turned over two irrigation systems worth P300 million in Ilocos Norte which are expected to boost agriculture productivity in the province.

The Solsona and the Madongan River Irrigation Systems under the National Irrigation Sector Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (NISRIP) have been completed.

The 6.2 billion yen (P2.8 billion) NISRIP targets to rehabilitate 11 river irrigation systems nationwide. Of these, eight river irrigation systems including Solsona and Madongan have been finished.

The two latest sub-projects totaling P300 million covered the rehabilitation of Solsona and Madongan Dams.

Both systems will provide timely and reliable irrigation service to over 3,300 hectares of agricultural lands in the municipalities of Solsona, Dingras, and Marcos in Ilocos Norte.

Around 8,000 farmers in the three municipalities stand to benefit from the project.

The Federation of Irrigators’ Associations will also be strengthened with the construction of eight office buildings for the irrigators’ associations and 13 units of combined office and support facilities for both sub-projects.

These will be complemented with vital agricultural support including farm machinery.

All these are seen to contribute in increasing farm yield and productivity, accelerating farm income and delivering growth in Ilocos Norte’s agricultural communities.

The Japanese government has been advocating the importance of irrigation as the fundamental tool to improving farm productivity and bolstering food resources.