LINGAYEN, Pangasinan, (PNA) — Governor Amado Espino Jr. called for the implementation of Phase III of the San Roque Multi-purpose Dam project in order to bring more irrigation water to farmlands in 11 towns of Pangasinan, three in Nueva Ecija and one in Tarlac.
He made the call Tuesday during the formal opening of the five-day Makina-Saka Luzon Road Show which began September 30 till October 4 at the premises of the Pangasinan Training and Development Center near the provincial capitol in Lingayen.
The road show, which includes lectures and seminars on modern farming using machines developed by Filipino inventors for Filipino farmers, participated in by some 2,000 farmers from Regions 1, II, III, VI-A, IVB, V and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).
Some 5,000 other farmers from Pangasinan are attending lectures and seminars being held during the five-day event.
Completion of the third phase of the SRMP, said Espino, will ensure year-round water of some 70,800 hectares of land, mostly in Pangasinan, thereby increasing rice harvests of farmers.
To date, Pangasinan ranks third in terms of rice production in the whole country, after Nueva Ecija and Isabela, in that order, but with the irrigation of additional 70,800 hectares of farm lands, there is a strong probability that Pangasinan will become the country’s top rice producer, said Espino.
Espino called on Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala on the need to fund Phase III of SRMP to the attention of the national government through the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
Phase I of the SRMP is the dam itself that stores water from the upstream of the Agno River for power generation. Phase II involves the construction of a 50-hectare re-regulating pond down below the dam to absorb water flowing out while the plant is generating about 44 megawatts of power for the Luzon grid.
Phase III of the dam which is still uncompleted involves the construction of primary canals that will convey water from the re-regulation pond to irrigation canals and eventually to the farmlands.
Espino said the construction of the project is the real key towards the industrialization of Pangasinan which he said is now behind other big provinces in development as its farm lands are not fully maximized.
“Mr. Secretary. we might be behind other big provinces today but we have still big farm lands awaiting to be tapped that can help you realize your dream to make the Philippines self-sufficient in rice,” Espino told Secretary Alcala.