DILIMAN, Quezon City—Members of farmers’ associations and organizations can have direct access to small-scale irrigation projects (SSIPs) through grants provided by the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM).
Engr. Alberto De Guzman, chief of the BSWM’s Design and Engineering Section under the Water Resources Management Division, talked about this in detail during an interview on “Agri Asenso”, the Agricultural Training Institute’s teleradyo program on DZRH.
“The BSWM is designated as the focal office or agency for irrigation network services for small-scale irrigation system. We provide overall direction in the planning and implementation of small-scale irrigation projects. The funds for these are directly downloaded by the Department of Budget and Management to the different DA Regional Field Offices (RFOs) for implementation,” he explained.
Some of the SSIPs being funded by the bureau include small water impounding project, diversion dam, small farm reservoir, shallow tube well, pump irrigation system for open source, spring development, and cistern.
There are also alternative pump irrigation systems for the production of high-value crops such as hydraulic ram pump, wind pump, and solar pump.
Interested applicants for these projects are advised to submit their requests and proposals to the DA-RFOs at least one year ahead.
According to De Guzman, around 2,800 farmers’ associations have benefitted from the SSIPs funded by the government. These are mostly for the production of rice, corn, and high-value crops.
De Guzman’s full interview last September 3, 2022 may be accessed through https://fb.watch/fl6eUlCUU6/.
