NIA leads groundbreaking event for Bulacan’s Small Reservoir Irrigation

Groundbreaking ceremony of P2.4 billion Small Reservoir Irrigation Project in Doña Remedios Trinidad, Bulacan on Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023 (Photo from National Irrigation Administration)

MANILA, Philippines — Department of Agriculture (DA) on Thursday held the groundbreaking of a P2.4 billion irrigation project in Bulacan.

DA said the Small Reservoir Irrigation Project (SRIP) in Barangay Bayabas, Doña Remedios Trinidad will improve the livelihoods of farmers and aquaculture investors in the province and its neighboring towns.

“Four years from now, people of Bulacan and Pampanga will benefit from the Bayabas SRIP—especially our rice and crop producers,” DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said in a press release.

“Ito’y tiyak na makakapagpataas ng ani at kita. Hangarin po ng ating Pangulo na pataasin ang antas ng pamumuhay ng mga magsasakang Pilipino,” he noted.

(This will surely increase harvest and income. Our President aims to elevate the livelihood of our Filipino farmers.)

In a post online, National Irrigation Administration (NIA) said its SRIP will irrigate more than 27,000 hectares of farmland in 17 towns of Bulacan and Pampanga.

“Aside from harnessing water from the Bayabas River for irrigation purposes, the project will provide other economic benefits, such as aquaculture development, tourism, and watershed management,” Tiu said.

He also added the project will “help ease the lingering flooding problem” in the provinces.

Furthermore, SRIP is expected to generate electricity from its solar and hydropower components.

DA covers only a third, or more than 990,000 hectares, of over 3 million hectares of irrigable lands.

NIA covers 67 percent of irrigation projects, including communal, private and government-supported systems.

DA cited PhilRice data that said rice yield in irrigated farms in 2022 was at 4.4 metric tons, compared to 3.2 tons in areas where there were rainfalls during the same year.