Japan funded Irrigation System Facilities turned over to Pangasinan farmers
2021/7/14
On July 9, 2021, Ambassador KOSHIKAWA Kazuhiko virtually conveyed his message during the turnover ceremony of the San Fabian River Irrigation System under the National Irri-gation Sector Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (NISRIP) in San Fabian, Pangasinan. The event was graced with the presence of Congressman Christopher P. De Venecia, NIA Adminis-trator Ricardo Visaya, San Fabian Mayor Constance B. Agbayani, San Jacinto Mayor Leo De Vera, as well as JICA Philippines Senior Representative (Agriculture) Ayumu Oshima.
In his video message, Ambassador Koshikawa emphasized the value of a fully functioning dam that is a constant and stable source of irrigation. He added that Japan has been advocating the importance of irrigation as the fundamental tool to improving farm productivity and bolster-ing food resources.
The monumental 6.187 billion Yen NISRIP Project targets to rehabilitate 11 river irrigation systems (RIS) nationwide. Five RIS including the San Fabian RIS in Pangasinan have been com-pleted. This 150 million pesos subproject covers rehabilitation of One Diversion dam. It will pro-vide timely and reliable irrigation service to around 1,676 hectares of agricultural lands in the municipalities of San Fabian, Manaoag and San Jacinto. Around1,565 farmers in these three mu-nicipalities stand to benefit from this undertaking. The Federation of Irrigators’ Associations will also be strengthened with the construction of seven Irrigators Association Office buildings and three units of combined office and support facilities. These will also be complemented with vital agricultural support including farm machineries. All of these interventions are vital enablers to in-crease farm yield and productivity, accelerate farm income and deliver growth in Pangasinan’s agricultural communities.