Philippine Irrigation Rehab Projects Create 100,000 Jobs Special

MANILA – The Department of Agriculture (DA) has announced that the agency created close to 100,000 jobs in rural areas as a result of the rehabilitation and restoration of irrigation facilities throughout the archipelago in 2009.

The repair of irrigation systems is part of FIELDS, which stands for stands for Fertilizers, Irrigation and other rural infrastructure like FMRs, Extension services and education for farmers, Loans, Dryers and other post-harvest facilities, and Seeds and other genetic materials. FIELDS is a centerpiece program of the government designed to attain food sufficiency and security while enduring that the instruments of farm productivity such as irrigation, farm-to-market roads and post-harvest facilities are put into maximum use. Alex Reuyan, officer-in-charge of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), an agency under the agriculture department, reported to Acting Agriculture Secretary Bernie Fondevilla that the 2009 restoration efforts benefited almost 80,000 farming households, irrigated 456,251 hectares of land, and opened nearly 100,000 jobs. “The target,” Reuyan said, “is to complete by 2010 the rehabilitation and restoration of 368,000 hectares of non-functional areas [so as] to increase the number of irrigated areas in the country. So far, he added, only 220,000 hectares have been affected by the repair initiatives. The NIA reported that in 2009, it completed the rehab of facilities catering 123,537 hectares, restored 89,638 hectares to productivity, and generating 97,976 jobs, which benefited 79,758 farm households. To achieve these goals, the NIA spent nearly P8 billion ($170 million, US) in funding. For 2010 alone, the DA is targeting 16,358 hectares of new areas to be generated, 92,255 hectares to undergo rehabilitation, and 108,000 hectares to be restored in order to increase their production capacity and meet the rice staple demands. Also included in this year’s DA agenda are the construction and rehab of 3,107 farm-to-market roads linking major farming villages to fish landings, fish ports, and key marketplaces.