Saturday, July 21, 2007 Agri chief gives hope to N. Occidental's irrigation highway plan By Gil Alfredo B. Severino and Nicolas C. Delfin
THE proposed construction of an "irrigation highway" in the Province of Negros may soon be realized after Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap on Friday disclosed that the operation, improvement and rehabilitation of the Bago River Irrigation System (Bris) may be started by September this year.
Yap was in Bago and Bacolod City for a series of talks with Negros farmers and businessmen on agricultural development.
In his meeting in Bago City, Yap said the proposed irrigation highway by Governor Joseph Marañon is possible and Bris will be a major part of it.
Part of the irrigation highway is the construction of a structure that would connect all the rivers in the Province to a huge catch basin that will conserve tons of water for purposes of food sufficiency increase in the agricultural farm lands.
Bris is one of the biggest irrigation systems in Region VI servicing about 12,700 hectares of rice farms in Murcia, Bago, Pulupandan, Valladolid, San
Enrique and La Carlota with around 4,405 farmers using the system facilities two to three times a year.
In 1999 however it was temporarily closed due to several misappropriations in government funds and properties.
Late last year, it also became controversial due to the funding brouhaha on its rehabilitation to be undertaken by a China-based construction firm.
Aside from Bris, other proposed components of the planned irrigation highway are the seven major rivers to include those in Ilog, Victorias City, Binalbagan, Cadiz City, Sagay City, Sipalay and Don Salvador Benedicto.
On the other hand, Yap stressed that agriculture products cannot survive without water thus announced the agriculture department’s priority program of repairing 400,000 hectares of unserviceable irrigated lands for rice and corn upon resumption of Bris's operations.
He also explained to Negros farmers the water, post-harvest facilities and market access as among the areas the agriculture department can provide to perk private and local government agriculture enterprises.
