President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday inaugurated the Cabaruan Solar-Powered Pump Irrigation Project (SPIP).
Designed to irrigate 350 hectares of rice fields and benefit 237 farmers, the Cabaruan SPIP is the country’s first and biggest solar-powered pump irrigation.
“Back in the day, we used machines run by oil to flow water from the irrigation canal to your crops. Now we’re making it
easier using electricity from the sun. Free electricity from the sun so we can provide free irrigation water,” Mr. Marcos said in his inauguration speech.
“Our savings here are really huge because aside from having free electricity source, we placed our solar panels directly on top of the irrigation canal, so it won’t reduce the land area planted by our farmers,” he added.
Constructed by the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) under the Magat River Integrated Irrigation System (MARIIS), the P65.77-million project features 1,056 solar panels installed above irrigation canals. It generates 739,200 watts to power two submersible pumps, reducing reliance on electric or fuel-powered pumps.
Marcos also announced the ongoing construction of 152 additional solar-powered pump irrigation projects, with 118 more planned by the government.
Last year, the Chief Executive said that 82 solar-powered pump irrigation projects had been completed, pledging to raise the count in the upcoming years.
Meanwhile, Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez on Monday distributed 17 solar pumps that would help hundreds of farmers irrigate their farms in Isabela, one of the country’s major rice- and corn-producing provinces.
He made the distribution before he, along with officials of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) and Isabela local government officials led by Gov. Rodito Albano, accompanied President Marcos in the inauguration of a big solar pump project in the same area.
Romualdez said irrigation is a major component of producing rice, corn and other agricultural products not only in Isabela, but in other parts of the country as well.
“We have to help our farmers with irrigation and other farm inputs like fertilizer and seeds so they can increase their produce. They should aim to double it,” he said.
In the case of rice and corn farmers who rely on rainwater for irrigation, Romualdez said solar pumps should enable them to plant an extra crop.
“This means that they can have at least two crops a year. That’s double their harvest if they plant their crop only during the rainy days, which is really the case in farming areas that do not have irrigation,” he added.
The solar pumps were part of NIA’s project meant to expand the irrigated areas in the country pursuant to President Marcos’ vision to boost agricultural production, particularly rice.
Romualdez pointed out that if farmers could double their produce with solar pumps, that would accelerate the fulfillment of the goal of the President for the country to attain food self-sufficiency and security.
“That would also ease rice and food inflation, resulting in lower prices for the staple and other agricultural products for the benefit of all Filipinos,” he stressed.
The Speaker said he would propose more funding for solar-powered irrigation pumps in unirrigated farming communities when the House considers the annual national budget.
“That’s the only way we can bring irrigation to these areas,” he said.
According to NIA officials, the Cabaruan solar-powered pump irrigation project “was conceived as a response to the escalating challenges of water scarcity, energy costs and the need for environmental conservation.”
The project consists of a pumping station, 1,056 solar panels that can produce 739,000 watts of electricity, two units of submersible pumps with an output of 2,800 gallons per minute.
The project can irrigate 350 hectares of agricultural land. It will reduce the production cost of 237 farmers, who have been dependent on gasoline or diesel-run water pumps to irrigate their farms.
NIA has completed 17 such projects costing P180.2 million in several towns in Isabela, Quirino and Cagayan.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline Marcos inaugurates first solar-powered pump irrigation in Philippines
