Bukidnon corn pilot project to spotlight solar irrigation systems
THE Department of Agriculture (DA) will commission a corn demonstration farm using a P3.5-million solar-powered irrigation system (SPIS) in Bukidnon next month, Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said on Tuesday.
“The demonstration farm is part of the modernization program of the DA to increase farmers’ productivity through the use of advanced agricultural technology,” Mr. Piñol said in his Facebook post.
“The Corn Demo Farm will use drip irrigation technology to provide water for a 10-hectare area which had been previously planted to corn the traditional way,” Mr. Piñol added.
The facility is being established at DA’s Upland Agriculture Research Center in Dancangan, Bukidnon.
According to Mr. Piñol, the demonstration farm could be expanded to 30 hectares with additional distribution pipes, engineers supervising the project told him.
Mr. Piñol said that the drip system will implement the practice of so-called fertigation, in which soil nutrients and fertilizers will be mixed with the irrigation water.
“Demonstration farms using the SPIS and fertigation technology will also be established for cacao, coffee, coconut, bulb onion, and other high-value crops,” Mr. Piñol said.
“The solar-powered irrigation system project of the DA has received the endorsement of Israeli agriculture experts who said that the system could double the agricultural production of the Philippines and make it a major food production area in the region,” Mr. Piñol said.