Cavite farmers get P12-M worth solar-powered irrigation system

September 21, 2022, 9:00 am

Atty. Milagros Isabel A. Cristobal, DAR Undersecretary for Support Services Office (SSO) cuts the ceremonial ribbon with (from her right) Demetrio M. Villacarlos, Irrigators Association President of Brgy. Baliwag, Ralph Lauren A. Du, NIA Deputy Administrator, and (in blue polo shirt) James Arthur T. Dubongco, Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer II.

“We can plant anything when there is water,” said Danilo Arnes, President of Tres Cruses Agrarian Reform Beneficiary and Farmers Association, Inc. during the turnover of the solar-powered irrigation system (SPIS) in Cavite.

Arnes said that tapping the solar energy is environmentally friendly and provides farmers with a sustainable source of water for their palay and high-value crops.

“I was talking to market vendors, they said they would buy our vegetables because it is clean as compared to rain-fed or vegetables that were irrigated from the creek,” he added.

The P6 million diesel-less, solar-powered irrigation system (SPIS) constructed by the DAR and NIA for Tres Cruses ARB Farmers Association Inc., situated at Sitio Gugo in Brgy. Tres Cruzes, Tanza.

Arnes proudly expressed the association's contentment for being provided with the SPIS and assured the department that they will preserve and properly use the SPIS.

DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella III has identified the provision of irrigation as one of the primary goals of the department, during one of the Cabinet meetings with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

In response to this call, Atty. Milagros Isabel A. Cristobal, DAR Undersecretary for Support Services Office immediately turned over two (2) SPIS worth a total of P12-million to Tres Cruses ARB and Farmers Association Inc.

Atty. Milagros Isabel A. CristobaL DAR-SSO Undersecretary, tests the water from the P6-million SPIS in Sitio Gugo in Brgy. Tres Cruzes, Tanza.

The SPIS, situated in Sitio Gugo, Brgy. Tres Cruzes, Tanza and Brgy. Baliwag, Magallanes, Cavite, was implemented in partnership with the National Irrigation Administration.

“You should take care and be responsible for this project because not all agrarian reform cooperatives are given the opportunity to be provided with it,” she said.

James Arthur T. Dubongco, DAR-Cavite Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer II said the SPIS offers a viable, low-tech energy solution for irrigated agriculture.

He said the project also provides a reliable source of energy in remote areas, contributing to rural electrification, reducing energy costs for irrigation, and enabling low emission agriculture.

“SPIS runs on solar energy, so that bringing water to farmlands will be much more affordable than the traditional diesel and gasoline-powered engine pumps,” he added.

Dubongco said the project can irrigate 32 hectares of agricultural lands primarily benefitting thirty-four (34) agrarian reform beneficiary households and other neighboring farmers.

The project was implemented under the Climate Resilient Farm Productivity Support (CRFPS) project of the department.

2024 Department of Agrarian Reform.