Pinol to push for ‘simple’ yet practical measures to achieve rice sufficiency

KIDAPAWAN CITY -– Incoming Agriculture Secretary Manny Pinol is set to push for communal irrigation, instead of constructing big dams, to ensure increase in rice production.Pinol will start holding office on June 30.One of the things he would prioritize doing in his first 100 days in office is to check all the irrigation facilities in the country. Yes, we do have irrigation facilities.But look, they are already silted. If there’s no rain, there’s no water there,” he said.He explained that communal irrigation, like, putting up water pumps, especially in upland areas, will ensure the country’s food sufficiency. If we can only target additional one million hectares for rice and corn, and put up water pumps in those areas, we don’t need to import.You know, agriculture is simple.If we don’t have water, we cannot plant,” said he.But instead of focusing on irrigation, Pinol said that agriculture officials during the previous administrations were geared towards rice importation. Some government officials are open for importation because that’s where they could earn,” said Pinol.He cited the Malitubog-Maridagao irrigation dam in Carmen in North Cotabato as a classic case of how inept the government was in addressing problems in agriculture. The Malmar dam underwent bidding in 1998.Today is 2016.It is not yet completed,” he explained.The dam was built in early ‘90s and some P4 billion was spent for the project to ensure rice sufficiency in North Cotabato.The province is included as one of the biggest rice suppliers in South and Central Mindanao.The Malitubog-Maridagao irrigation dam is the biggest foreign-funded projects in the country.Funds came from a loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).It started in October 1989, which was supposed to be completed six years later.But almost three decades later, the project is still idle.The original cost has had to be revised to P3.4 billion.The project, once completed, is supposed to irrigate more than 10,000 hectares of land straddling the municipalities of Pikit and Carmen in Cotabato, and Pagalungan and Pagagawan in Maguindanao—most of them considered conflict areas. How many billions of pesos do we need to complete the Mal-mar project?President-elect Duterte is 71.I am 62.If we wait for another 10 years to complete such project, we will never be able to achieve food sufficiency.We only need communal irrigation, simple yet practical,” he stressed.