The construction of 16 solar-powered pump irrigation systems in Albay, worth PHP320 million, will enhance rice production for various irrigators\u2019 associations in the province, the National Irrigation Administration in Bicol (NIA-5) said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
In a phone interview, NIA-5 Public Relations Officer Ma. Cleofe Baraero said the irrigation projects will cover more than 269 hectares of rice fields and benefit 265 farmers in the province.<\/p>\n
“By providing a consistent, year-round water supply, these solar-powered irrigation projects will transform previously rainfed fields into productive, climate-resilient agricultural areas. This will boost crop yields, increase farmer incomes, and lower production costs,” she said.<\/p>\n
Baraero said the projects will be awarded to seven irrigators’ associations from Daraga, Libon, and Legazpi City, as part of the NIA’s modernization program, after the upcoming election.<\/p>\n
“Once turned over to the associations, the responsibility for caring for and maintaining the solar-powered pump irrigation projects will lie with them,” she added.<\/p>\n
Maurice Ian Lunuas, president of the Alobo-Gapo Solar Irrigators Association, said the project will significantly improve their lives by reducing production costs.<\/p>\n
“Previously, we relied solely on rain. With this project, our harvests are sure to increase,” he said.<\/p>\n
Ceferino Abat, president of the Tamban Irrigators Association, said they can now effectively plan and coordinate their cropping schedules, which helps in pest management in their rice fields.<\/p>\n
“The larger our harvests, the greater our contribution to our families’ development. We are very grateful to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for this initiative,” he said.<\/p>\n
Edmar Sevilla, a communal agriculturist, added that before this initiative, they could only harvest twice a year, but now they can do it at least three times annually. (PNA)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The solar-powered pump irrigation project in Albay promises to strengthen rice production, ensuring better yields for local farmers as reported by NIA-5.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5688,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-energy"],"zyndk8_nxtgen_metadata":{"nxtgen_comments":[{"507":"God bless po pres marcos Jr!\r","508":"WOW Solar power Irrigation! gAling!\r","509":"Magandang ideya eto para sa ating agrikultura\r","510":"Climate frendly pa, perfect!\r","511":"Solar powered na irrigation, wowow!\r"}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greeninc.ph\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/greeninc.ph\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/greeninc.ph\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greeninc.ph\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greeninc.ph\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/greeninc.ph\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5687\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greeninc.ph\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greeninc.ph\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greeninc.ph\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greeninc.ph\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}