Apayao is taking in bold steps in its bid to mitigate the effects of El Nino in the province.
With the completion of the rehabilitation of the irrigation canals in the province, Governor Elias Bulut Jr. on Tuesday said this will allow rice farmers to have a third cropping, increasing by an average of 1.8 million tons the rice production of Apayao.
“Farmlands in the province are all irrigated. The lowland towns of Pudtol, Sta. Marcela, Luna and Flora have irrigation canals and the upland municipalities of Conner, Kabugao and Calanasan have communal irrigation systems for the water needs of the farmlands,” said Bulut.
The rehabilitation is part of the more than 260 communal projects of the National Irrigation Administration in the Cordillera Administrative Region this year with a budget of P1.5 billion, aside from the repair, rehabilitation, and maintenance of communal irrigation systems in the different provinces of the region.
This will benefit 15,000 hectares of rice field areas covered by the Upper Chico Irrigation System will benefit from the increased budget allocation of NIA-CAR aside from the West Apayao-Abulog irrigation system in Apayao, including the rice field areas of Abra and Ifugao.
Bulut said NIA has included the rehabilitation of irrigation canals involving cementing to avoid seepage of water on the flooring.
He added that while they have existing irrigation systems, they are still soil, making water seep, especially during the summer season.
“We are rehabilitating kasi mga main canal natin earth lang, ngayon sinesemento to lessen seepage at itinataas ang mga sides at walls, ” Bulut explained adding aside from reducing seepage, the rehabilitation will bring water to the newly opened irrigated lands.
Apayao relies heavily on farming which comprises 80 percent share of the economy of the lowland municipalities while about 30 to 40 percent is contributed to the economy of the highland municipalities. Roderick Osis