Here is a Food Security Project which the new President, Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., could launch right on his first day in office because it had been prepared and packaged for implementation.
It is a computerized National Solar-Powered Irrigation which the Israel Government offered to fund with a P40-Billion loan using modern technology to irrigate an estimated 500,000 hectares.
All that the new President needs to do is to direct the new National Economic and Development Authority Secretary General Arsenio Balisacan to convene the NEDA-ICC to approve the program and accept the Israel loan offer.
This project was started early in 2019, when President Rodrigo Duterte approved my request to negotiate for a loan grant with the Israeli Government to fund the establishment of Solar-Powered Irrigation Systems (SPIS) to cover an estimated 500,000 hectares.
I proposed the loan from Israel because the Solar-Powered Irrigation System (SPIS) Program which was adopted by the Department of Agriculture in 2017 did not get funding in the GAA of 2019.
Sa tulong ng dati Ambassador ng Israel to the Philippines, Rafael Harpaz, at ng isang Israeli agricultural company, LR Group of Israel, mabilis naming na-package ang loan agreement at sinusportahan ito ng gobyerno ng Israel.
Mahal ng mga Israeli ang Pilipinas sapagkat kinupkop ng ating bansa ang mga Jewish refugees noong World War II kaya madaling inaprubahan ang loan proposal na tinatayang aabot ng P40-B.
The P40-B would have been used to establish modern Solar Irrigation and Fertigation Projects to irrigate an estimated 500,000-hectares for rice, corn, sugarcane and high value crops.
The LR Group of Israel designed a digitally interconnected system which would allow a central office to monitor the performance of each and every unit of SPIS.
Hiningi ko sa LR Group that to show goodwill, magpatayo sila sa Lumban, Laguna ng 2 units of SPIS, one using a fertigation system where fertilizer is automatically mixed with irrigation water, for an area of at least 60 hectares and a smaller unit to replace the shallow tube wells of farmers which use diesel engines costing them P15,000 per hectare per year.
Natapos agad ang 2 demo units while at the same time, sa utos ng Malacañang, binuo ko ang committee composed of different agencies of government – NEDA, DOF, DBM, NIA, BSWM – upang mabalangkas ang National Irrigation Program.
When I resigned as Agriculture Secretary and moved to the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), I was no longer updated on the progress of the loan package which was forwarded to the NEDA-ICC.
It had been three yeas since the DA-led committee convened and made recommendations but nothing had been heard of about the loan offer.
Nakakapanghinayang, kasi sana tapos na by this time ang Solar-Powered Irrigation Systems coveing 500,000-hectares and this would help the country prepare for the impending World-wide Food Crisis.
I am sure the LR Group of Israel and the Israeli Government would still be willing to continue the project and this could be easily completed in one year.
#FailingToPrepareIsDisaster!
(Photo of the LR Group-donated SPIS in Lumban, Laguna was taken during my visit to the area in 2021. All other photos were taken during the visit and inspection of the LR Group executives led by its CEO Ilan Weiss.)
New NEDA SecGen! Israel Offer Of P40-B Loan For Solar Irrigation In Limbo
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