Rice farmers in the Municipality of Cortes, Surigao del Sur can now irrigate their farmland as the Igang-Caman-onan and Kagbaye Diversion Dams start to operate this year.

The Department of Agriculture (DA)– Caraga formally turned over today the two diversion dams to Cagbaye Farmers Irrigators Association (CFIA-SWISA) and Camam-onan Farmers Samahang Walang Iwanan sa Agrikultura (CFSWISA).

DA-Caraga Regional Technical Director Nicandro M. Navia, Jr. led the turnover ceremony of the ₱6.38 Million projects located at Barangay Burgos.

“We are more than willing to partner with the local government units to make idle lands productive that the farmers can benefit,” Director Navia said.

The newly constructed diversion dams are part of the small-scale irrigation project under the DA Rice Program in partnership with the Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM) and coordination with the Local Government Units. A total of 60 farmers will be provided with a stable irrigation system for rice production.

“We were the only ones doing the sand-bagging to build a makeshift irrigation canal. However, the improvised canal was no use during the rainy season for it is not strong enough to control the water,” CFSWISA President Restituto Olbes recalled.

Most farmers in the barangay have been dependent on rainwater to irrigate their farms, he added.

But with the establishment of the irrigation system, this rekindles hope among rice farmers who wanted to increase their income and maximized rice yields.

“Our struggle ended in 2019 when the diversion dam is completed. This is a big help for us to effectively and efficiently use the water for quality production,” Olbes said.

The Camam-onan Diversion Dam reuses water from Camam-onan Creek that traverses Sitio Egang to irrigate 17 hectares of rice lands. Three to four kilometers away Kagbaye Diversion Dam also reuses water from Cagbaye Creek that passes Sitio Hilamon to irrigate 30 hectares of farmlands.

For the year 2019, a total of 12 diversion dams were constructed and rehabilitated and additional three irrigation systems are on-going for rehabilitation and improvement located at Loreto, Agusan del Sur, Tubod and Tagana-an, Surigao del Norte.  

The DA focuses to build more agriculture infrastructures to help the farm sector to improve rural productivity and increase the income of local farmers through Secretary William D. Dar’s agri-industrialization strategy. (Rhea C. Abao, DA-Caraga RAFIS)