ISULAN, Sultan Kudarat (PIA) -- A total of 355 farmer households in the municipality of Lutayan in Sultan Kudarat will benefit from the Antong Irrigation System project of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA).

House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez led the project launch on Feb. 25 during the 12th leg of the Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat. 

“The project amounting to P1 billion covers 1,563 hectares,” said Gina Lozano, acting division manager of the NIA-Sultan Kudarat Irrigation Management Office (SKIMO).

Lozano cited members of the Upper Center Lower Baluno Irrigators Association, Inc., as the project’s direct beneficiaries.

Danilo Delos Santos, a farmer for 45 years and president of the irrigators association, emphasized that the project will be of big help to his fellow farmers not only in Barangay Antong but also in neighboring barangays.

“Dako gid ang mabulig sang project sa amon nga mga rice farmer kay importante gid ang patubig kay rice land ang Antong,” Delos Santos said.

[The project will be a huge help for our rice farmers because irrigation is very important for Antong since it’s rice land.] 

He also relayed that they experienced difficulty with their farming activities after their first dam was damaged three years ago.

"Ang dam para gid sa farmers, indi maayo ang harvest kung wala sang dam kay indi synchronous ang farming kay gapaunahay lang,” Delos Santos noted, emphasizing that the newly launched project is a great blessing now that they lack sources of water for their farms.

[Dams are really for farmers. The absence of dams hugely affects harvests, as they are supposed to be synchronized.]

He said that at present, they get water from the nearby rivers and that they are most thankful when it rains.

For Delos Santos, the collaboration of the national government, through the NIA and the local government unit of Lutayan, as well as the provincial government of Sultan Kudarat, is important to promote not just the welfare of farmers but also economic growth in the communities.

Meanwhile, Lozano also disclosed the NIA-SKIMO proposed solar-powered pump irrigation projects for this year with a total amount of P1.9 million.

The projects will be implemented in the municipalities of Bagumbayan, Lambayong, Palimbang, and Senator Ninoy Aquino, all in Sultan Kudarat province.

“The same projects will also be implemented in four barangays of the nearby town of General Salipada K. Pendatun in Maguindanao del Sur,” Lozano said.

The projects, which cover 56 pump stations, are expected to serve at least 1,986 hectares of land.

Aside from the Antong Dam project and the solar-powered pump irrigation projects, the NIA-SKIMO also proposed another irrigation system project for 2024 for the six towns and the city of Tacurong in the province. (SJDM - PIA Region 12)