Davao City – A program which will allow local government units to access funding for the establishment of Solar Water Supply and Irrigation Systems to provide potable water for remote villages and prepare for the expected El Niño next year will be launched in Davao City on December 6.
The Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Development Bank of the Philippines and the local government units of Mindanao will gather at the SMX Centre at SM Lanang, Davao City to officially roll out the Mindanao Solar Water Supply and Irrigation Project.
The MinDA Solar Water Supply and Irrigation Project aims to provide sources of safe drinking water for the off-grid villages in Mindanao and Palawan while at the same time giving farmers access to irrigation water for agricultural crops including rice.
At least 2,000 barangays in Mindanao are still without safe sources of drinking water while MinDA aims to assist LGUs in irrigating 100,000 hectares of rice farms in preparation for the El Niño which is expected next year.
The Solar Powered Irrigation System (SPIS), a brainchild of MinDA Secretary Manny Piñol which he introduced when he was Agriculture Secretary, has been proven to increase farmers productivity allowing them to plant rice twice a year while increasing their yield because of sufficient water supply.
Unlike the SPIS Program implemented by the Agriculture Department under then Sec. Piñol which was granted for free to farmers’ groups, the MinDA Solar Water Supply and Irrigation Project will be funded by the DBP through a low-interest loan granted to Mindanao LGUs.
During a meeting with DBP President Emmanuel Barbosa In Makati City yesterday, DBP said LGUs with small shares in the Internal Revenue Allocation (IRA) will be given lower interest rates.
DILG Sec. Eduardo Año, during a previous meeting with MinDA Chairman Piñol, said his department will provide a counterpart to support the LGUs.
Provincial Governors and Mayors from all over Mindanao and Palawan are expected to attend the launching of the MinDA Water on Dec. 6.
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