TABUK CITY, Kalinga – National Irrigation Administration (NIA) Administrator Florencio Padernal said he will to do everything for the farmers and rid NIA from anomalies.
Padernal was the guest speaker during the February 18 Farmers’ Day in celebration of the 20th Kalinga Day celebration and Ullalim Festival, assured farmers who are members of irrigators associations (IAs) that he will work with Presidential Assistant for Food Security and Agricultural Modernization Francis Pangilinan to attain NIA’s objective of increasing farmers’ income and making rice farming three croppings in a year.
Upon assumption to office, he increased the budget of NIA-Kalinga to P137 million for 2015. “I also proposed further increase to P200M in 2016,” Padernal said adding NIA will focus on the construction and rehabilitation of Communal Irrigation Systems (CIS).
According to the administrator, the completion of the total rehabilitation of the Upper Chico River Irrigation System (UCRIS) by December this year will pave focus to CIS in the Kalinga.
“I will talk with the contractor to hasten the project’s implementation and I comeback in December to see the completion of the P420 million total rehab of UCRIS,” Padernal said.
On the request of farmers for a training center in Kalinga, Padernal said” we will fund it and construct this year.”
He also informed that in order to hear straight from farmers their concern, Padernal said he put the chairman of the IAs national federation as member of the NIA board.
He urged farmers to have a direct link with his office in order to respond quickly on their complaints.