Govt commissions 4 solar irrigation systems in Camarines Sur

The Department of Agriculture (DA) recently commissioned four units of solar-powered irrigation systems (SPIS) in four towns in Libmanan, Camarines Sur, in its bid to increase the rice output of the province next year.

Agriculture Secretary emmanuel F. Piñol said the SPIS will support the rice production program of the province.

The first four units are in the towns of Libmanan, Pula, San Fernando and Nabua. Piñol also said 12 more units of SPIS are undergoing construction and will be completed by the first quarter of 2019.

he said the area to be served by the solarpowered irrigation systems are rainfed areas where farmers harvest only once a year and produce only 3 metric tons per hectare.

“The installation of the SPIS will now allow them to plant twice a year, with a target yield of 6 MT per hectare per harvest,” the DA chief said in a Facebook post.

With the support of the national government, Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Ray Villafuerte said the province, which is currently ranked fourth among rice-producing areas in the country, could hike its output by 10 percent next year. Camarines Sur currently produces 683,385 MT of rice every year.

Piñol said a total of 169 units of solarpowered irrigation systems are currently under construction all over the country.

In August Piñol said the Duterte administration would spend some P43.7 billion to irrigate an additional 500,000 hectares over the next four years through SPIS to improve farm productivity.

Piñol said the President vowed to allocate at least P43.7 billion for the construction of around 6,250 SPIS until the end of his term. An SPIS, which could irrigate an average of 80 hectares, costs about P7 million.

“The [2019] budget will only allow us to build 10 additional units,” he said. “I told the President that the DA will have to abandon some of its nonessential programs and realign the funds to the SPIS program for 2019, with a target of at least 100 additional units.”

The additional 500,000 hectares would be able to produce at least 2 million MT of rice, according to Piñol. A vendor displays various cuts of pork at his stall in Quezon City in this file photo. The national Meat Inspection Service revealed that the inventory of frozen pork and dressed chicken expanded by 39.2 percent and 20.4 percent, respectively.

ThE inventory of dressed chicken and frozen pork for the week ending December 3 was up by double digits, with imports constituting the bulk of meat products stored in local cold storages.

Data from the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) indicated that the inventory of frozen pork during the period rose by 39.2 percent to 37,065.85 metric tons, from 26,618.89 MT recorded a year ago.

Of the frozen pork in local cold storages, NMIS data showed that imports accounted for 33,288.24 MT, or nearly 90 percent of the inventory during the period. Some 60 percent of the frozen pork are in Region 3 (14,417.02 MT) and Region 4A (7,081.6 MT).

The inventory of imported frozen pork was higher by nearly 30 percent than last year’s 25,734.21 MT.

Figures from the NMIS indicated

that more than 90 percent of frozenpork inventory for the week ending December 4, 2017, was also made up of imports.

The NMIS said the frozen-pork inventory included carcass, primal and specialty cuts. The survey covered accredited commercial and inhouse cold-storage facilities.

Chicken supply

DATA from the NMIS also showed that dressed chicken inventory during the period also went up by 20.4 percent to 35,840.71 MT, from last year’s 29,752.89 MT.

The NMIS found that more than half, or 19,005.98 MT, of the dressed chicken inventory during the period was made up of imports. Local chicken in cold storages reached 16,834.73 MT.

Data from the attached agency of the Department of Agriculture

(DA) indicated that the inventory of imports in local storages was higher by 45.37 percent than last year’s 13,073.77 MT.

NMIS figures showed that some 12,000 MT of imported poultry were stored in Region 3 (5,234.07 MT) and 4A (6,821.44 MT). The bulk of local chicken was also stored in the two regions.

The NMIS, an attached agency of the DA, said the figures did not include fresh, chilled chicken and mechanically deboned meat, as well as those already in distribution channels.

The agency also said the survey covered only accredited cold-storage facilities.

Filipino traders are allowed to purchase pork and chicken from abroad, and they usually do so via the minimum-access volume scheme of the World Trade Organization.