Farmers start to plant rice at a field in Barangay Simamla, Virac Catanduanes on November 7, 2020. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News/File

MANILA — The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Monday said it has hired a Vietnamese expert to construct irrigation systems in four flatlands, noting that the method is expected to be 50 percent cheaper than traditional irrigation projects in the Philippines.

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Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu-Laurel said he and other DA officials saw the technology while looking at how Vietnam — where 95 percent of farmlands are irrigated — has been using the Mekong River and other resources in its irrigation systems.

“We saw how they controlled the flood and harnessed the water. Instead na iniiwan nila yung tubig diyan at baha… Gumawa sila ng canal system,” Laurel told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Makati.

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“Yung canal system nila, ginamit lang nila backhoe, wala man lang semento masyado, then may mga flood gates na nilagay... Yun na din yung transport system nila for rice. Instead na truck-truck, sila barko barkong rice yung lumalabas, sa loob ha, sa inland. It’s a novel idea na nagustuhan namin,” he said.

So far, less than 50 percent of farmlands in the Philippines are irrigated, Laurel said.

“If we irrigated all our flatlands, technically may surplus pa tayo, puwede pang mag-export,” he said.

The cost of irrigation projects in the Philippines is usually at P1 million for every hectare, but the new method from Vietnam will only cost “maybe half” of the amount, the DA chief said. 

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“I don’t think it will be expensive kasi puro backhoe lang ang gagamitin. It’s a design using the land and just moving earth,” he said.

“The flood gates na nakita ko is very simple and cheap to do, and some pumps,” he said.

The Vietnamese experts will be in the Philippines next week to “present the master plan” for the irrigation around the Candaba River Basin, Cagayan River Basin, Agusan River Basin and the Liguasan Marsh, the Agriculture chief said.

The idea has been presented to other Cabinet secretaries and everyone likes it so far, he said.

“We’re now working together with other government agencies to make it happen,” he said.

The DA expects the blueprint to be ready by next year so that the funding for the project can be included in the agency’s 2026 budget proposal, he said.

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President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. earlier ordered several agencies to ensure that newly-constructed dams will be linked to irrigation canals to ensure that excessive rainwater during the monsoon season can be redirected to farmlands as the current administration pushes to increase agricultural yield in the Philippines.

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