Irrigators associations from across the Ilocos Region on Thursday gathered at the Teatro Ilocandia of the state-run Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) in Batac City, Ilocos Norte to vow support for the Marcos administration’s rice self-sufficiency program.

Remy Albano, president of the National Confederation of Irrigators Association (NCIA), said the “Masagana 150” and “Masagana 200” programs of the Marcos administration are both “achievable” in boosting farmers’ productivity.

Masagana 150 targets a yield of 7.5 tons of inbred rice per hectare at a production cost of PHP8.38 per kilogram. This would translate to a net profit of PHP50,000 per hectare for farmers based on a market price of PHP27.50 per kilogram.

Masagana 200, meanwhile, aims to produce at least 10 tons of hybrid rice per hectare at a production cost of PHP7.82 per kilogram. This would give farmers a net of PHP70,000 based on a market price of PHP27.50 per kilogram.

Albano said the NCIA has stressed the need for “a competent and competitive institutionalization of farm credit, provision of farm inputs to food producers and harmonizing the different components in the value system from production to retail, and the intensification of pre-to post-harvest activities including the construction of irrigation systems to boost agricultural production.”

The in-person congress, initiated by the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) with the irrigators’ associations, is being held in Batac City from Oct. 12 to 14 to strengthen partnerships among concerned stakeholders, the NIA, and partner agencies from the public and private organizations.

To date, local farmers continued to benefit from the Department of Agriculture’s PHP15-billion national rice program and the PHP10-billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, a mandated appropriation under the Rice Tariffication Law that aims to improve the competitiveness of farmers following the liberalization of the rice industry.

A big-ticket irrigation project is also being pushed to provide a year-round supply of water to farmers in Northern Luzon.

The project, dubbed Ilocos Norte Ilocos Sur Abra Irrigation Project is worth PHP25.7 billion. Once operational, the project is expected to irrigate over 14,000 farmlands in Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, and Abra. (PNA)