Pangasinan farmers to get irrigation water year round

SAN MANUEL, Pangasinan—Farmers in this rice-producing province are now assured of year-round irrigation water, enabling them to plant for the second cropping season, thanks to San Roque Dam and the re-regulating pond that collects water released by the dam whenever it generates power.

Ceferino Sta. Ana, assistant project manager of the Agno River Integrated Irrigation project, said the dam guaranteed that farmers would have water to use for their farms all year.

The re-regulating pond, which was opened in April, supplies water to some 20,000 hectares of rice land in the towns of San Manuel, Asingan, Villasis, Manaoag, Malasiqui and Sta. Barbara and Urdaneta City.

Pangasinan, the country’s third-largest rice-producing province, has an irrigated area of 167,389 hectares and a rain-fed area of 80,146.28 ha.

This year, the province posted a 3.9-percent increase in its palay (unhusked rice) harvest, compared to last year’s yield.

Nestor Batalla, rice program coordinator of the office of the provincial agriculturist, said that this year, the province produced 1,106,592 metric tons of palay, which was higher by 41,556 MT than last year’s production.

The main cropping season for rice runs from April to December while the second crop season begins in October until April.

Sta. Ana said San Roque Dam could irrigate about 13,000 ha more if the Agno River irrigation system extension project is approved and completed.

He said the project could irrigate eight more towns at the left bank of Agno River. These are San Nicolas, Natividad, San Quintin, Tayug, Sta. Maria, Balungao, Umingan and Rosales towns.

The extension is among the projects being reviewed by the National Economic and Development Authority board, he said.

The project will consist of 33 kilometers of main and lateral canals and will cost about P2.6 billion.–Gabriel Cardinoza, Inquirer Northern

Luzon