REHABILITATION. The rehabilitation of the irrigation canal in Barangay Cabariuan, Sibalom, Antique started on June 8, 2024. Municipal Agriculture Office chief Albert Estoya said in an interview Friday (June 14) that Mayor Gian Carlo Occeña has mandated their office to assist farmers through irrigation canal rehabilitation. (Photo courtesy of Municipal Agriculture Office-Sibalom)
SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique – The local government unit of Sibalom, upon the request of the farmers’ association, started the rehabilitation of irrigation canals in time for the wet season to boost rice production.
Municipal Agriculture Office (MAO) chief Albert Estoya said on Friday that the local government procured a backhoe last month, which they use in the rehabilitation.
He said rehabilitating the 300-meter irrigation canal in Barangay Cabariuan will provide the 54-hectare rice land and its adjacent 25-hectare in Barangay Biga-a access to irrigation.
Sibalom has the biggest rice area in the province at 6,500 hectares.
It has 84 farmers’ associations, which will be requested to provide fuel for the backhoe.
“Farmers’ associations may coordinate with the MAO if they would like to have the irrigation canals in their barangays rehabilitated,” he said.
With sufficient water supply and other farm inputs, the production per hectare could go up to five metric tons from around 4.3 metric tons a hectare.
Meanwhile, Estoya said that the Philippine Rice Research Institute allocated 10,000 bags of certified seeds to Sibalom, with 5,318 delivered as of Friday.
“I also encourage farmers to keep a portion of their harvest this wet season for their homegrown seeds so that they would have their own seeds for planting by the next cropping season,” he said. (PNA)
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