In line with government efforts to address the hunger and poverty problem, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has allocated P27.5 billion worth of priority irrigation projects nationwide to enhance farm production and increase market goods supply.

Presidential Management Staff (PMS) Director General Cerge M. Remonde announced in a briefing this morning that the President has targeted four major irrigation projects costing P21.49 billion and several small irrigation projects worth P6 billion to spur the country’s agricultural productivity, increase food production and allow the export of goods such as vegetables and other high value crops.

Remonde said President Arroyo has also directed the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) to release P500 million per month for small irrigation projects of which P200 million is for the North Luzon Agribusiness Quadrangle (NLAQ), another P200 million for the Mindanao Super region, and P100 million for the rest of the country.

In his statement, Remonde pointed out that irrigation projects are necessary and important as these contribute towards maximizing the potentials of the super regions in agribusiness.

"Irrigation will allow more intensive farming and multi-cropping resulting in reduced seasonal harvesting, increased income of farmers, jobs and ultimately help improve the living standards especially of poor agricultural communities," he explained.

As part of the Arroyo administration’s massive infrastructure program, Remonde said four major irrigation projects costing P21.49 billion will be constructed by the NIA to benefit some 92,464 farm families and increase palay production by 552,478 metric tons (MT) per year or 359,111 MT of rice annually.

These nationwide irrigation projects, Remonde said, will double farmer incomes from the current average of P24,218 per hectare to P53,650 per hectare per year. Income of farmer beneficiaries, according to Remonde, will increase by 119 percent or P31,599 per hectare annually from P26,391 to P57,950 while the income of farmers whose lands are watered by small irrigation projects will increase by 124 percent or P27,306 per hectare per year from P22,045 to P49,351.

The four major irrigation projects now being undertaken by the government include the Agno River Integrated Irrigation and the Kabulnan Irrigation Projects Phase II which are slated for completion next year. Two others, the Banaoang Pump Irrigation Project and the Casecnan Multi-Purpose Irrigation Project in NLAQ, will be completed in 2010 and 2012, respectively.

An initial fund of P1.5 billion, according to Remonde, has been released to NIA to implement the small irrigation projects, which is expected to increase rice production to 859,053 MT per year.

By 2013, it is estimated that these small irrigation projects will be completed, increasing the country’s projected 12.5 million MT rice production to 13.4 million MT.

Remonde stressed that these major and small irrigation projects would benefit 200,903 farm families and expected to double the farmer’s income from the current average of P24,218 per hectare to P53,650 per hectare per year.

He said the income of farmers benefiting from the four major irrigation projects will increase by 119 percent or P31,559 per hectare annually from P26,391 to P57,950 while the income of farmers whose lands are watered by small irrigation projects will increase by 124 percent or P27,306 per hectare per year from P22,045 to P49,351.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has created an Anti-Hunger Task Force headed by Department of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III to speed up the implementation of the government’s hunger mitigation program (HMP).

In a National Nutrition Council (NNC) Board Meeting held last Friday in Malacaņang, the President said she wants the HMP to be accelerated and turned into a six-month program with Duque overseeing its implementation.

Among the tasks Duque has to fast-track and improve on are the existing components of the HMP, including the food-for-school program (FSP), the food-for-work program and various feeding programs of the non-government and religious organizations.

Under the FSP, rice and other foodstuffs like noodles and vegetable packs are given to school children as an incentive for attending school. The food-for-work program, on the other hand, involves the hiring of poor and unemployed individuals to render community services like street sweeping in exchange for a stipend with which they can use to purchase foodstuffs.

Secretary Duque will coordinate with other agencies constituting the NNC to monitor the agencies’ individual anti-hunger programs such as the Department of Agriculture’s Gulayan ng Masa and Barangay Food Terminal projects.

During the NNC meeting, the Chief Executive expressed her determination to address the problem of hunger and poverty in the country more aggressively and immediately.

In line with this, Cabinet Secretary Ricardo Saludo said the President issued a number of policy statements and instructions, among which are the following:

• The report on increasing food production, a component of the Hunger Mitigation Program Framework, should include major food items such as livestock, rice (e.g., specifically the volume of rice produced and delivered to Metro Manila) and marine regeneration (e.g., mangroves and coastal fishery development).

The President stressed that the national government should not wait for the support of the local government units (LGUs) before it pursues the Gulayan ng Masa Program. It should push through with the efforts even without LGU assistance since hunger is a national problem that has to be immediately addressed.

She directed the DA to roll out the "hito" production for urban areas program, a component of the marine regeneration productivity program.

The President also reiterated her instruction to DA to determine per province the total target land area to be irrigated, the percentage of irrigated lands and the actions being undertaken to irrigate the remaining target areas.

Stressing the importance of DA meeting the Barangay Food Terminal’s (BFT) target of reaching 200,000 families by April 2007, the President instructed the agency to set up a Barangay Food Terminal in the Smokey Mountain, specifically in the area allotted for the Serbisyo Muna Action Center (SMAC) of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR).

Secretary Saludo said the NNC would provide the President with a list of non-governmental organization (NGOs) that are assisting the government in the feeding program and the areas they are servicing.