Davao City, May 27 – A little over a year after the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) launched the MinDAWater Supply Program to help local government units in establishing irrigation and drinking water systems, the town of Taraka, Lanao del Sur is ready to open the gate valves of six units of Solar-Poswered Irrigation System next month, June 2021.
The 6 SPIS units established in farm lands located in the periphery of Lake Lanao will irrigate about 600 hectares allowing farmers to plant at least twice a year and increasing their farm yield from the current 3-metric tons per hectare once a year to 12-metric tons from two harvests.
The Solar-Powered Irrigation Systems and a Solar-Powered Potable Water Supply System are funded by the Taraka Municipal Government through a loan fund from the Development Bank of the Philippines, a partner of MinDA in the MinDAWater Suipply Program along with the Dept. of Interior and Local Government.
The six SPIS units are scheduled to be commissioned next month while the Potable Water Supply System, which is equipped with a filtration facility, is expected to be completed by December this year.
The SPIS and the Potable Water Supply Projects cost over P100-M, an amount taken from the P215-M loan granted by DBP to Taraka which also covered the purchase of road building equipment.
Taraka is the first town to enroll in the Mindanao Water Supply Program initiated by MinDA which aims to establish water supply systems in remote towns and villages of Mindanao both for irrigation and household use.
The program promotes self-reliance among LGUs with MinDA crafting the program and blueprint of development, DBP the funding and DILG the administrative support.
Taraka Mayor Nashiba Sumagayan, a former university professor who took over the town from her husband, Odin, now the vice mayor, joined the launching of the MinDAWater Supply Program in Davao City on Dec. 6, 2019 and asked to be considered as the pilot area.
MinDA staff assisted Taraka in the crafting of the town’s agriculture master plan, conducted capability building training and financial literacy, and organized the town’s Economic Enterprise Office which will manage the projects.
A model farm, MAHAL Center, which includes goat raising, egg production and duck raising was also established in the town with the help of MinDA.
Following Taraka’s example, the town of Balabagan, also in Lanao del Sur, also enrolled in the MinDAWater Supply Program while other towns outside the Bangsamoro Region have also submitted requests for technical assistance.
Taraka has also been identified by MinDA as a proposed beneficiary of a Rice Processing Complex to be funded by the European Union MINPAD Rise Program to complete the rice production value chain.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Agrarian Reform (MAFAR) of BARMM has also pledged support for Taraka’s projects with the provision of farm equipment.
Taraka now shines as a model of a self-reliant town in the Bangsamoro Region.
#KungGustoMaramingParaan!
#GovernanceIsCommonSense!
(Photos were submitted by the construction groups undertaking the SPIS and Potable Water Supply Projects to project coordinator Claire Billones of MinDA.)
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