Difference between revisions of "Sultan Kudarat News"

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→‎Major irrigation system to shut down for 3 months

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+==Major irrigation system in South Cotabato undergoes major repair starting May 1==
+*Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=419680
+*April 16, 2012, 5:09 pm
+:by  (PNA)
+dct/LDV/AVE/RSS
+GENERAL SANTOS CITY, April 16 (PNA) -- A major repair of an irrigation system that serves thousands of hectares of palay farms in the provinces of South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat will push through starting May 1, an official said.
+Ramon Bugacia, National Irrigation Administration manager for South Cotabato, said the Allah River Irrigation System (ARIS) will be closed down for repairs for three months to restore the facility’s efficiency.
+“From the original four months, we have reduced the repair work schedule to three months to minimize its impact to palay farmers because when their livelihood is affected, it also has effects to the [local] economy,” he told reporters.
+The major repair works include two dams that have not undergone major rehabilitation works since they were commissioned in the early 1970s.
+Some P138 million has been allocated to cover the rehabilitation of the dams and line canals.
+"This is the biggest annual budget that we have gotten so far since previously, we were only getting P30 million to P40 million a year, and this is because of the target of the Aquino government for food self-sufficiency and to stop rice importation by 2013," Bugacia said.
+Reynaldo Legaste, South Cotabato chief agriculture officer, earlier said the closure of the dams would affect an estimated 7,000 hectares of rice farms in South Cotabato and another 2,000 hectares in neighboring Sultan Kudarat.
+For the estimated 7,000 hectares of palay farms in South Cotabato that would be hit by the irrigation repair works, the yield would be equivalent to 28,000 tons or 28 million kilograms, Legaste said.
+“That is enough to feed the population of South Cotabato for three months,” he stressed.
+Based on the 2007 census, South Cotabato has a population of nearly 770,000 people.
+The estimated rice production loss in the province is equivalent to 30 percent, which normally is the surplus per cropping cycle that is brought to other neighboring regions like Davao.
+Legaste said this may lead to an artificial shortage in neighboring regions that would lead to price increases, as the demand would overwhelm the supply.
+In 2008, prices of rice almost double to P50 per kilo in Mindanao due to scarce global rice supply, sending a long queue of people in stores buying cheaper rice from the National Food Authority at a controlled volume.
+Today’s prices of premium commercial rice in South Cotabato range between P34 to P37 from P30 to P35 per kilo a few months ago.
+Legaste said that farmers affected by the shutdown of the irrigation system would get subsidies if they resort to other crops.
+Also, they would still have an income since they would be hired as laborers in the irrigation system’s rehabilitation works, he said.
 ==Major irrigation system to shut down for 3 months==
 *Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao/local-news/2012/04/15/major-irrigation-system-shut-down-3-months-216404
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 Also, they would still have an income since they would be hired as laborers in the irrigation system’s rehabilitation works, he said.
 ==Al-Khobar gang blamed for latest North Cotabato bus bombing==