P9 million dam to up rice output in Cagayan town

HARVEST BOOSTER A 53-meter long dam benefiting 30 farmer beneficiaries has been turned over by the Department of Agriculture Regional Field Office 2 headed by Executive Director Narciso Edillo (second from right) to the local government unit of Santa Ana, Cagayan headed by Mayor Nelson Robinion (fourth from left) on Friday, July 21, 2023. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

By Leander C. Domingo

SANTA ANA, Cagayan -- To boost food production, the P9-million Department of Agriculture (DA)-funded San Juan diversion dam in San Juan village here was completed and turned over to the local government unit (LGU) in this coastal town.
    DA Regional Field Office 2 (DA-RFO2) Executive Director Narciso Edillo said the diversion dam, which will be under the management of the LGU here led by Mayor Nelson Robinion, has the capacity to supply water irrigation to some 30 farmer beneficiaries.
    Edillo also said the 53-meter long dam, which was finally turned over on Friday, July 21, 2023, is located at San Juan sub-village of Barangay Casambalangan in this town under the General Appropriations Act of 2023.
    "In our quest for food security, we need to increase production. In doing so, we need irrigation. This diversion dam will raise the water level and redirect it to your fields," Edillo told the farmers during the turnover.
    Robinion thanked the DA-RFO2, saying "this project means a lot to the small-holding farmers of Santa Ana, especially Casambalangan."
    He also said Casambalangan, a farming and fishing community, is a mix of agricultural and commercial economy.
    "Most of the commercial and industrial activities are at Casambalangan's Port Irene within the Cagayan Special Economic Zone," Robinion added.
    He said some of its agricultural and aquatic products are rice, corn, peanut, fish, lumber and shells and thus with the San     Juan diversion dam, the farmers can improve their rice yields.
    It was Robinion who requested the construction of the diversion dam from the DA-RFO2 to help the members of the San Juan Casambalangan Farmers Association Inc.
    The DA-RFO2 said the construction of the diversion dam that has a service area of 46 hectares started March 6, 2023 and was finished on July 12, 2023 with the technical assistance of DA-RFO2 Agricultural Engineering Division.