CANDON CITY, Aug. 11 (PNA)– House Deputy Speaker Eric D. Singson (2nd District, Ilocos Sur) sought over the weekend the construction of more irrigation projects to provide sufficient water requirements for the growing of rice crops nationwide.
This, he said, will address the country’s problem on shortage of rice, considering that the growing and level of production of crops depend on the availability of adequate water supply.
“Even if we have enough farm inputs, like fertilizers, if we don’t have sufficient water supply in the growing of crops, it’s useless because our crops primarily depend on water,” Singson said last Saturday.
The lawmaker called on officials of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) to discuss matters regarding the construction, rehabilitation and repair of the different irrigation systems in Northern Luzon as well as the whole nation.
Singson observed that the areas of irrigated lands in the country are continuously declining due to lack of irrigation water.
“Based on reports reaching my office, irrigated lands during the time of former President Ferdinand Marcos were not fully maintained. Only 50 percent of the total irrigated lands during that era remained as of this time,” he lamented.
“So, I’m urging my fellow lawmakers, heads of the concerned government agencies and non–government organizations and local officials to embark on programs servicing farmers planting rice because our major concern today is food,” he added.
Singson, who is one of the chairmen of a cluster of committees concerning economic development, said he is helping put up the provision for more irrigation projects to become the top priority program of the national government so that the country can have optimum rice production.
“We need to act now because our country is already far behind Vietnam and Thailand in terms of rice production. Sad to say, the rice technologists from these countries learned from us when they studied agriculture in our prominent agricultural universities,” Singson said.
The congressman disclosed that at present, he is maintaining three big irrigation projects servicing thousands of farmers from the second district of Ilocos Sur.
These existing irrigation systems are the Burgos–Sta. Maria Irrigation System, the Sta. Lucia–Candon City Irrigation System and the Suyo–Tagudin Irrigation System.
The lawmaker is also pursuing the construction of Phase II of the Banaoang Pump Irrigation Project along Banaoang River in Santa, Ilocos Sur to serve thousands of farmers in the northern portion of the second district of the province.
To help farmers from the sudden soaring prices of fertilizers, he urged all established cooperatives which he helped organize to venture on direct purchase of fertilizers from suppliers in other countries.
He said that if there is direct purchase of fertilizer, farmers could save about 25 percent from the present price of fertilizer in the local market, ranging from P1,900 to P2,100 per bag. (PNA)
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