On March 9, 2022, DA-CMU breaks ground for the establishment of the P1.1-M SPFS to help LIMUS farmers increase their cropping intensity, rice productivity, and farm income.

 

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Regional Executive Director Carlene C. Collado of the Department of Agriculture-Regional Field Office 10 (DA-RFO 10) and CMU President Jesus Antonio G. Derije, DVM led the groundbreaking of the solar-powered fertigation system in Central Mindanao University in Musuan, Maramag, Bukidnon on Wednesday, March 9, 2022.

Funded by DA’s Rice Program, the P1.1 million irrigation system is powered by solar energy where fertilizer components are included in the irrigation water.

“It is one of the modern technologies that will redefine irrigation application as production efficiency is enhanced with the precise combination of fertilization and irrigation while reducing irrigation costs,” explains Director Collado.

It is composed of 20 solar modules powered by 60.1 kilowatts that can serve the eight-hectare rice field of the Land Tiller Inhabitants of Musuan (LIMUS) that will increase the cropping intensity, rice productivity, and farm income of the farmers.

He added that the technology is part of the continuing efforts of the agency in modernizing the agriculture sector.

The LIMUS, which is part of the BTL or the BUFFALO, TAMARAW, LIMUS is a DA-accredited farmer group, wherein its accreditation provides access to become partners of the department in its agriculture-related initiatives.

DA’s intervention also supports the whole-of-nation approach of Executive Order No. 70 which formed the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).#