Balungao Pangasinan Philippines
#SWIPInauguration || Two small water impounding projects (SWIPs) are now ready to service a total of 132 hectares of food production areas in the barangays of Esmeralda and Poblacion, in Balungao, Pangasinan.
On February 3, Agriculture Secretary William Dar inaugurated the Cabaroan and Poblacion irrigation projects, valued at P13 million (M) and P23.8M, respectively, to benefit 120 farmer-members of the Cabaroan Farmers’ Association (FA) and the Poblacion Irrigators’ Association.
Aside from supplying the water needs of Balungao farmers, the project will also provide additional livelihood opportunities to local residents, following the dispersal of 15,000 tilapia fingerlings by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.
During the event, Dar also awarded the San Aurelio First FA a certificate of turn-over for a P12.8M-worth SWIP.
The irrigation projects, funded under the Department of Agriculture in Region 1, amount to a total of P49.6M.
In his message, Dar urged the continuous cooperation of the provincial government of Pangasinan and the local government of Balungao with DA to ensure that all agri-fishery initiatives are implemented in the grassroots.
“We should work hand in hand — co-implement, co-monitor — always in coordination,” he stressed.