Arroyo wants Libmanan back as Bicol’s rice granary

LIBMANAN, Camarines Sur – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo assured today the farmer-beneficiaries of the Libmanan-Cabusao Irrigation Pump System Project that her administration will help them restore Libmanan as the “rice granary of Bicol region.”

The President made the assurance during a visit at the Cabusao Irrigation Office in Barangay Handong here where she also distributed rice seeds, assorted vegetable seeds, corn seeds and organic fertilizers to the farmer-beneficiaries.

The President was briefed by National Irrigation Authority (NIA) Director Alexander Reuyan on the status of the Libmanan-Cabusao irrigation pump system, a project vital to the restoration of Libmanan as the rice granary of Camarines Sur and the entire Bicol region.

Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya, Camarines Sur Gov. Luis Raymond Villafuerte, and newly-elected Camarines Sur District 1 Rep. Diosdado “Dato” Arroyo accompanied the President.

During the informal interaction, the President directed Reuyan to speed up the feasibility study on how to convert the present irrigation pumping system of Libmanan and Cabusao into a gravity irrigation dam system.

In response to the proposal of Alejandro Nano, president of the Libmanan Irrigators Association, the President instructed Reuyan to change the irrigation system in their municipality.

Nano complained to the President about the expensive irrigation fee since the water pump irrigation system uses diesoline for its operation. The pump price of diesel now is P35.

Compared to gravity irrigation dam system, he said, there is a possibility at lowering the irrigation fee rate since there’s no diesel involved in the operation.

Nano told the President that each of his member farmers pays P3,000 per square meter of ricefield to the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) for them to have a supply of water.

The Libmanan-Cabusao irrigation system is part of the President’s roadmap towards realizing the region’s full potential and spur the country’s drive towards agricultural productivity and increased food production.

The Libmanan-Cabusao irrigation system is designed to provide year-round irrigation to 1,656 hectares of paddy fields of rice, corn and other diversified crops.

The project also aims to introduce modern irrigation farming techniques, generate additional employment opportunities and increase the income and livelihood of some 5,000 low-income farmer-beneficiaries.

As she continued to move around here, the President distributed sacks of palay seeds, assorted vegetable seeds, hybrid corn seeds, and organic fertilizers to the farmers.