New dam in Nueva Ecija boosts rice harvest

WATER FOR FIELDS The Upper Tabuating Small Rerservoir Irrigation Project in General Tinio, Nueva Ecija, serves about 700 hectares of rice farms since its completion in December 2020. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

CABANATUAN CITY—The newly completed P878-million dam project in Nueva Ecija province has started irrigating 700.87 hectares of farmlands in two towns, the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) said on Monday.

The Upper Tabuating Small Reservoir Irrigation Project would improve rice production in the province, according to Rosalinda Bote, manager of the Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation Systems, which operates the dam.

At least 223 farming families in the towns of General Tinio and Peñaranda benefited from the project during the initial activation of the irrigation facility for the dry season that began last December when the dam was completed, Bote added in a statement.

Citing NIA records, Bote said the irrigated farms yielded 91,182 cavans of rice during the harvest period from December last year to May this year. Each cavan contains 50 kilos of rice.

The harvest was equivalent to a daily average of 130.10 cavans of SL8 and Longping hybrid rice varieties.

In October last year, parts of the dam were turned over to three associations handling the irrigation system, who were tasked to protect and maintain the canals and coordinate with farmers served by the project.

The dam will be formally inaugurated on Tuesday, according to Bote.

—ARMAND GALANG INQ