Pampanga in Central Luzon is definitely outside of my area of responsibility as Chairman of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) but I have friends all over the country whose request for help I could not simply turn down.
Over a month ago, former DENR Undersecretary Sylvia Muñoz-Ordoñez, wife of former Agriculture Undersecretary Ernesto Ordoñez, called my brother, Bong, to ask for my help in establishing a Solar-Powered Irrigation and Fertigation System in a 26-hectare Lahar-filled area in Bacolor town which is owned by the Kapampangan Development Foundation.
Sylvia saw what I was doing in my farm where I have set up a pressurized irrigation system with fertigation to plant a Hybrid Upland Rice variety as part of an experiment.
She also saw the several Solar-Powered Irrigation Systems established all over the country when I was Agriculture Secretary.
After talking to her by phone, I promised that I would form a group of people helping me with my Solar-Powered Irrigation System Advocacy to visit the KDF farm.
Last week, the team visited the KDF Farm in Bacolor, Pampanga to assess the potentials of the area for high value crops farming, including the planting of Dates Palm.
The team was led by Renaldo Borda, an agriculture engineer who is in private practice and who. supports my advocacies.
Engr. Borda said the area really needs irrigation because it is very dry and suggested that the Lahar sand must be boosted by organic materials, preferably Coco Peat, to enhance its water holding capacity.
Today, Engr. Borda and his team are preparing the layout of the location of the Solar-Powered Irrigation Facility and the reservoirs to be set up in three locations to ensure the maximum coverage of irrigation water.
Next month, the team will be back in Pampanga to establish the SPIS and assist KDF in developing the Lahar Fields into an agricultural production area.
Of course, KDF will have to cover the professional fees of the private engineers I tapped in helping them out.
As for me, I have done my part to help a friend by linking her up with people who could provide the suggestions on how to transform the 26-hectare KDF Farm into a model farm for other Kapampangans whose areas were covered by Lahar and rendered unproductive for three decades now.
#KungGustoMaramingParaan!
#TulongTulongLang!
(Photos of the KDF Farm and the team which visited it were taken by Oliver Legaspi, Mindanao Development Authority.)
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