ARISP III’s CIPs…
Irrigating peoples hopes
For a harvestable future
Rey Anthony H. Chiu
Communal Irrigation Projects: irrigating community spirits
According to National Irrigation Authority, a Communal Irrigation Project (CIP) puts in a system: small-scale irrigation facilities constructed with the participation of farmer-beneficiaries thru their irrigation associations (IA).
This not only bonds farmers to a certain level of cooperation, it also lends to them the necessary skil to coordinate, construct and maintain the system they now own, a NIA Irrigation Development Officer said.
The operation and maintenance of CIS is turned over to IAs upon project completion subject to a cost recovery arrangement, that’s why.
Farmers amortize the chargeable cost for a period not exceeding 50 years at 0 percent interest at a pre-arranged and acceptable re-payment scheme by both parties.
And with Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR Bohol) seeing the point farmers have pressed, through the foreign funded Agrarian Reform Infrastructure Support Project (ARISP III), the coordination works take root with the empowered farmers also compelling the lobby from local governments of Alicia, Balilihan, Catigbian and Danao for CIP green lighting.
For DAR Bohol, no convincing is needed.
DAR has seen that a CIP in one of Bohol ’s top rice harvesting communities in Cayacay in Alicia town could increase average harvest per hectare with about 80 hectares of farms in its neighboring farmlands benefiting.
In fact, a survey by the Bureau of Agricultural statistics showed a huge disparity of average harvest yield on irrigated farms compared to rain-fed and upland farms.
Helping the town leaders and ARC beneficiaries, DAR forecasts a haul in better harvests with the small irrigation facility called the Cayacay CIP, set to be completed before 2014.
Project feasibility has pegged P22.5 million funds from the ARISP III needed, data from the Bohol Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) bare.
With post qualification ongoing, farmers here have shown an elevated enthusiasm especially that Pre construction conferences have been initiated last month.
Not wanting to be counted out in the tally for spurring agricultural economic activity, local town leaders completed the P5M Cambaol CIP as its “dip-into-its-pockets” counterpart of the ARISP III agreements.
To even up the ante, Cambaol CIP can also sustainably irrigate 50 hectares of ricelands, local data showed.
That similar thing is also happening in Balilihan as with other ARISP III towns.
In another ARISP III beneficiary town, the Balilihan CIP, which is estimated to service 85 hectares of farmlands covers parts of barangays Sagasa (55 hectares), Dorol (20 has) and Sal-ing (10 has), according to the data from DAR.
Some P12.7 million funds have been spent here, and the ARISP has intimated for the funding of diversion structures, main, lateral canals and structures including some farm ditches.
The LGU has positively concurred to funding supplementary farm ditches, as its counterpart.
With the development, large patches of rain-fed farms would now find a better and more reliable water supply to significantly increase production, a farmer has earlier shared.
On the other hand, developing the Catigbian Irrigation Project has been in the works and DAR Central project Monitoring Office has validated the right of way claims when it was submitted late last year.
The approval of the project which is set to irrigate 75 hectares of farmlands in Poblacion and Ambuan could be approved anytime, updates a DAR Bohol source.
Per approved feasibility study, construction cost is a little more that P9M.
Irrigation development is also pursued in Danao town, a valley nestled amidst the rolling hills and mountains of Central Bohol .
Hibale-Nahud Communal Irrigation Project has been identified for development which is capable of irrigating an aggregate expanse of 75 hectares, ARC beneficiary farmers said.
While the feasibility study for the project is still ongoing, ARISP has initially assented to the development of diversion structures, water pumps acquisition, main and lateral canals construction, farm ditches and canal structures including culverts and embankments.
Enthused by the offer, the local government also initially committed to fund the construction of supplementary farm ditches.
The development have presented to the people a better reason to work together and mold a communal economic development direction while its also made a more cohesive working team at the DAR, upon whose shoulders lay the burden of effective service deliver and accountability. (30)
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ABCDs of DAR’s FMRS…
ARISP III rolls out “ways” for
Better harvest marketability
Rey Anthony H. Chiu
Soon, expect fresher, crispier, less-bruised and more succulent farm products reaching key Bohol markets in the next few months.
This as the binge of strategic road infrastructure constructions are spread out in four key agricultural towns: all because of the Agrarian Reform Infrastructure Support Project III implemented in its template forms at Alicia, Balilihan, Catigbian and Danao (ABCD) towns.
The move to smoothen the road access to the markets came as the government, wanting integrated support to its Agrarian Reform Communities (ARCs) saw that increasing harvests still could not be translated into income for the farmer’s pockets even with the newly introduced farm technologies.
“Farm harvests have never been so good, but production loses still remain alarmingly high that the Department of Agrarian Reform’s (DAR) Agrarian Reform Infrastructure Support Program (ARISP) spreads a network of strategic farm to market roads (FMRs) to get these harvests to the markets fast and in their highly marketable price,” DARs information Officer Ma. Lydia Bantugan shared.
In its entire project span, ARISP III, funded by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation has committed P151, 820, 301 to roll out some 42.229 kilometers of key roads that would link farms to key highways and markets.
And just as foreign funded ARISP projects involve tripartite approaches, the funds are leveraged by local sources, which open up much longer road networks via local sources, said another key DAR executive in Bohol .
“As the ARISP III projects spread into four Bohol towns, other government agencies there into similar mandates pool in resources to prop up local economies that are surely identified as dynamic engines of growth,” DAR Provincial Agrarian Reform Officer Atty. Antonio del Socorro explained some few months back.
For local counterparts, these towns agree on a 60/40 sharing of costs to fund the construction of community identified projects and this in a way helps extend government presence and effectively puts communities as co-owners of their projects, del Socorro added.
This way, protecting the projects and keeping its upkeep is assured, DAR aspires.
ARISP’s 42.229 kilometers of FMRs stretch further with the four LGUs funding some 46.58 key FMRs, record from DAR showed.
Of these LGU funded farm roads, Balilihan tops with 24 kilometers of FMR funded from in its local sources, Catigbian funds 11 kilometers more and Danao puts up 7.48 kilometers while Alicia opens up 4.1 kilometers of barangay access roads, according to the same record.
While some of these road networks are still on their initial construction stages, DAR urges community residents to bear with the inconvenience of construction as project implementers also assured fast-tracking of such to get these infrastructure facilities operational by the next cropping.
In fact, since these roads sometimes traverse creeks and rivers, the project also includes components of bridges and culverts construction that an aggregate of 31.2 linear meters of bridges are also permanently set up as complements, records show. (30)