NIA implements the P5-b Mindanao irrigation project

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The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) said it has implemented the P5.133 billion Malitubog-Maridagao Irrigation Project-Phase II (MMIP-II) in Barangay Villarica, Midsayap, North Cotabato.

It said the project recorded an overall weighted physical performance (OWPA) of 99.56 percent as of March 2024.

On March 18, 2024, a series of test runs were conducted on the completed canal structures in the Lower Malitubog Service Area to test the readiness and operational condition of the structures before they are handed over to farmer-beneficiaries.

With water source from the Maridagao River, MMIP-II covers 9,528 hectares of agricultural land in the municipality of Aleosan, North Cotabato and the towns of Pangalungan and Datu Montawal in Maguindanao del Sur under the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

The project has 4,043 farmer beneficiaries.

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Guided by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s rallying cry for unity to achieve lasting peace and national progress, NIA Administrator Eduardo Eddie Guillen advocates bayanihan and personally spoke to residents about the positive impact of the completion of MMIP-II on their livelihood.

He met with the presidents and members of the IA and underlined the importance of the support and cooperation of the IAs in the realization of the project.

The installation of solar pumps along the embankment is expected to provide irrigation to the dried up areas with a convertible facility for proper water management and agricultural production.

Once proven effective, it will be replicated in the fertile agricultural areas within the Liguasan Swamp, which will eventually transform the area into an economic zone of Southern Mindanao.

The project also aims to achieve and maintain peace and order in the region through social and agricultural development.

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