A Corn Demonstration Farm using Solar-Powered Irrigation and modern “Fertigation” technology in Dangcagan, Bukidnon is set to be commissioned by the Department of Agriculture (DA) next month.
The demonstration farm is part of the modernisation program of the DA to increase farmers’ productivity through the use of advance agricultural technology.
Costing P3.5-M, the Solar-Powered Irrigation System (SPIS) established at the DA’s Upland Agriculture Research Centre in Dangcagan aims to showcase the benefits of modern agriculture technology.
The Corn Demo Farm will use the drip irrigation technology to provide water for a 10-hectare area which has been planted to corn the traditional way previously.
The coverage area could be expanded to 30 hectares with additional distribution pipes, according to DA engineers who are supervising the construction of the project.
The drip system will also be used in employing another advanced farming technology called “Fertigation” where soil nutrients and fertiliser will be applied by mixing these with irrigation water in the reservoir.
The system is expected to increase corn production from the average 4 metric tons to at least 8 metric tons and allow two croppings in a year.
Since its introduction and launching by President Rody Duterte in March 2017, the SPIS has been identified as one of the banner programs of the DA.
Built at costs much lower than the traditional irrigation systems, the SPIS could be completed in less than 6 months.
This year, a total of 169 units have either been completed or under construction all over the country to cover over 2,000 hectares of rice farms.
Aside from the corn demonstration farm using the SPIS, the DA will also establish four demonstration farms for irrigated sugarcane fields and two farms for irrigated upland rice projects.
Demonstration farms using the SPIS and Fertigation technology will also be established for Cacao, Coffee and Coconut, Bulb Onion and other high value crops.
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.
An Israeli company has offered to fund and construct SPIS to cover 500,000 hectares over the next three years under a long-term loan program to be guaranteed by both the Philippine and Israeli Governments.
(Photos of the Corn Farm Solar-Powered Irrigation System taken by Mayette Tudlas and DA Region X staff last Sunday in Dangcagan, Bukidnon.)
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