THE Department of Agriculture is allotting P13 million to rehabilitate

two communal irrigation systems (CIS) in Ozamis City, Misamis Occidental to enable the province to attain 100 percent self-sufficiency in rice in the next two years from the current 84% level.
Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala said the two irrigation projects are the Labo and the Clarin CIS that serve a combined area of 160 hectares.

When completed, the Labo CIS will irrigate a total of 118 hectares, while Clarin will irrigate 42 hectares.
Initially, the two systems were allotted with P6.5 million, but Secretary Alcala doubled it to P13 million, upon knowing that the province currently produces 84% of its total rice requirements. He challenged the local officials and farmers to attain 100 percent self-sufficiency in rice the soonest possible time, even before 2013, by doubling their irrigation budget.

In particular, he urged farmers to increase their average palay harvest to at least five tons per hectare by employing good agricultural practices – from land preparation to use of good quality certified seeds, proper fertilization, and adoption of postharvest practices.
The country’s current average harvest of palay (unmilled rice) is 3.7 tons (74 cavans of 50 kilos each) per hectare.

The National Irrigation Administration in Region X, through the Lanao-Misamis Occidental Irrigation Management Office under Regional Irrigation Manager Julius S. Maguiling, has achieved 52.71 percent irrigation development in the region.

The region has a total agricultural area 193,830 hectares. Of these, 14,574 hectares have potential for irrigation. About one-half of these areas are already irrigated by the NIA, commercial or private irrigators, and small land owners. The rest is for irrigation development.

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