The City Agriculturist Office (CAgrO) is continuously offering rainwater catchment projects to farmers in the upland areas of the Paquibato and Marilog districts for agricultural use.

In a press briefing on Monday, engineer Gilbert Iglesias, an official from CAgrO’s agri-fisheries project, said 500 units of rainwater catchment have already been installed in the upland areas of Davao since the project’s implementation in 2021.

“The establishment of more rainwater catchment systems is still ongoing. Our office provides other services to farmers, including farm equipment and machinery,” he said.

Iglesias said rainwater catchments in Paquibato and Marilog benefit the area’s farmers, especially during the drought, as they will become their water source for irrigation.

Engineer Karen Joy Delos Reyes, also of CAgrO’s agri-fisheries project, said farmers interested in a rainwater catchment could contact their barangays, which will forward the request to CAgrO for evaluation.

Once the area is deemed suitable for a rainwater catchment system, CAgrO will ask the landowner to sign a deed of usufruct with the barangay.

“The rainwater catchment project serves two main purposes: storing rainwater for future use and preventing water runoff from upland areas to lowland areas during heavy rains,” Delos Reyes said.

Once the ground becomes saturated with rainwater, she said, the water will begin to fill the excavated rainwater catchment.

“When the stored rainwater is yet to be utilized for irrigation and other purposes, it can serve as a fishpond where farmers can put fingerlings,” she added. (PNA)