IRRIGATION PROJECT. An aerial photo of the Balbalungao Small Reservoir Irrigation Project (SRIP) which will benefit over 500 farmers and their families in Lupao, Nueva Ecija. With a total cost of over PHP1.27 billion, the construction of the project started in July 2020 and is expected to be completed by January 2024. (Photo courtesy of NIA-UPRIIS)
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga – Over 500 farmers and their families in Lupao town, Nueva Ecija province will stand to benefit from a vital irrigation project that is expected to be completed next year.
Engineer Gertrudes Viado, acting department manager of the National Irrigation Administration-Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation Systems (NIA-UPRIIS), said on Wednesday that the Balbalungao Small Reservoir Irrigation Project (SRIP) will serve 562 farmer-beneficiaries from five barangays in the northern part of Lupao – Balbalungao, San Isidro, Sto. Niño, Salvacion and Mapampang.
With a total cost of over PHP1.27 billion, the construction of the Balbalungao SRIP with an 840-hectare service area started in July 2020 and is expected to be completed by January next year.
“As of Oct. 15, 2023, the Balbalungao SRIP has recorded 92.55 percent overall project accomplishment. Hence, construction of this project still remains ahead of schedule,” Viado said in a video interview.
Implemented by NIA-UPRIIS Division I, the Balbalungao SRIP which is an earthfill dam, is one of the projects that aim to boost the campaign for rice competitiveness and increased income of local farmers being served by NIA led by Administrator Eddie Guillen.
It is designed to provide irrigation to 967.19 hectares of farmland in the town’s four villages.
Viado said that even before the expected completion of the dam and its appurtenant structures early next year, officers and members of San Isidro-Balbalungao Irrigators Association (IA) in Lupao have already been benefiting from the water reserve that the dam has started to build to irrigate its service area.
Isagani Gonzales, one of the IA officers, sees the huge benefits of the Balbalungao SRIP as they no longer have to worry about planting crops during the dry season.
“Umaasa lang kami sa sahod ulan. Napakalaki po ng tulong ang mabibigay sa amin ng proyekto. Kung noon pagdating ng dry season ay nag-aalala kami kung magtatanim pa kami o hindi dahil wala kaming sapat na source ng tubig, sa ngayon ay nabuhayan kami ng loob na magtatanim ng dire-diretso dahil nga po dahil sa biyaya ng dam na ibibigay sa amin (We depend on rains. The project will give us great benefits. If before during the dry season we worried on whether we were going to plant or not because we did not have sufficient source of water supply now, we have the courage to plant continuously due to blessings that the dam will give us),” Gonzales said.
Joseph Trinidad, also a fellow farmer-IA officer, said they will now have a definite source of water that could help boost their yields.
“Ngayon na dumating na itong dam, malaking tulong ito sa aming mga magsasaka dahil mabiyayaan kami ng tubig na hindi gaya ng dati na kung saan saan kami kumukuha ng source of water para lang mabigyan namin ng patubig ang mga pananim naming gulay (Now that there is a dam, it is big help to us as farmers. We will now have water unlike before that we had been looking anywhere for source of water to irrigate our vegetable crops),” Trinidad said.
Primarily designed for irrigation purposes, the project also aims to contribute to profitable fishing and tourism opportunities in the area. (PNA)
