Quezon farms get boost from new irrigation facility

The National Irrigation Administration has inaugurated a P242-million irrigation facility in Tiaong, Quezon, amid efforts to shore up rice production in that town and in neighboring areas.

Located in Barangay Ayusan I, the Quipot Irrigation Project is said to be aimed at promoting rice self-sufficiency in the Quezon towns of Tiaong, San Antonio, Candelaria, Sariaya, as well as in San Juan, Batangas.

NIA administrator Florencio F. Padernal said in a statement the diversion weir of the Quipot project was also expected “to contribute to every farmer for an improved socio-economic quality of life.”

Fredelita C. Guiza, presidential adviser on food security and agricultural modernization, who also attended the inauguration rites, said “the project will address the low (level of) rice production in Quezon, which has been the problem of the province from the start.”

According to the NIA, the Quipot project will provide irrigation water to at least 2,800 hectares of rice farms, including 1,815 ha in Quezon 985 ha in Batangas.

Also, the agency said the project would benefit a total of 2,155 farmers, including 1,327 in Quezon and 828 in Batangas.

With the Quipot facility providing irrigation water, covered farms are expected to see yield rising to five tons per hectare from 2.8 tons/ha in the wet season, and 5.2 tons/ha from 2.6 tons/ha in the dry season.

In a related development, the NIA last week kicked off a P1-billion project involving the rehabilitation of  the Bustos Dam in Bulacan, which is also known as the Angat Afterbay Regulator Dam.

Aside from direct rainfall, Bustos Dam receives water from the larger Angat Dam and supplies irrigation water for farms in Bulacan and Pampanga. The NIA’s Angat-Maasim River Irrigation System (Amris) in Central Luzon operates Bustos Dam. Ronnel W. Domingo