CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) here has announced the release of P483.6 million for the start of the second phase of the Casecnan Multi-Purpose Irrigation and Power Project (CMIPP) of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), as part of a huge project that would cost P7.054 billion to boost farm productivity in Central Luzon.
“The continued implementation of these irrigation projects will be critical not just in sustaining the productivity of the country’s agricultural lands, but also in stimulating economic growth among our local farming communities,” the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) here said.
“The P7.054 billion project will provide full irrigation services to an additional 20,321 hectares in the towns of Anao, Ramos and Victoria in Tarlac and the municipalities of Guimba, Nampicuan, Talugtug and Cuyapo and Science City of Muñoz in Nueva Ecija as well expand as coverage of the existing service areas of the Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation System (UPRIIS) by another 40,000 hectares upon its completion in 2016,” NEDA said.
The project’s major components include irrigation facilities in the new Super Diversion Canal (SDC) service areas, rehabilitation of irrigation facilities in the existing UPRIIS service areas, establishment of Centralized Operation and Monitoring System (COMS), irrigation management transfer and institutional capability building, and right of way acquisition.
“CMIPP-Irrigation component Phase 2 is expected to increase rice yield to 5.2 metric tons per hectare from the current 2.8 metric tons per hectare, improve cropping intensity to at least two cropping seasons per year from the current one cropping season, and produce an incremental yield of about 135,271 metric tons of milled rice annually,” the NIA reported.
The NIA said the project actually started years ago when the government entered into a build-operate-transfer agreement with CE Casecnan Water and Energy Company (CWEC) for the development of a 26-kilometer transbasin tunnel from Casecnan, Nueva Vizcaya to Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija.
The transbasin tunnel was designed to siphon water from the Casecnan and Denip rivers to Pantabangan dam reservoir to generate electricity from a new 150-megawatt hydroelectric power plant and at the same time irrigate existing and new service areas in Nueva Ecija, Bulacan, Pampanga and Tarlac, NIA noted.
The CMIPP-power component was completed by CWEC in 2001 and has been supplying electricity to the Luzon grid at full capacity.
In 2008, NIA completed the first phase of the irrigation component of the project serving an additional 16,879 hectares and supplying stable irrigation to 55,000 hectares existing service areas of UPRIIS.
The NEDA Board is the governing body that sets the major development policy directions for the Philippines.
