To uphold their mission of improving the country's agricultural productivity and increasing farmers' income through the construction and management of irrigation systems, the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) recently implemented the P5.133 billion-worth Malitubog-Maridagao Irrigation Project Stage II (MMIP-II) in Barangay Villarica, Midsayap, North Cotabato.

To assess the MMIP-II operating condition, the NIA held a series of test runs on the completed canal structures in the Lower Malitubog Service Area on 18 March 2024, posing an overall weighted physical accomplishment of 99.56 percent.

The irrigation project, which uses water from the Maridagao River, covers 9,528 hectares (Ha) of agricultural land in the Municipality of Aleosan, North Cotabato, and the towns of Pangalungan and Datu Montawal in Maguindanao del Sur and is aimed at improving the livelihoods of 4,043 farmer-beneficiaries.

"The installation of solar sump pumps along the dike is eyed to provide irrigation to the dried-up areas with a convertible facility for proper water management and agricultural production," the NIA statement read.

"Once proven effective, it will be replicated in the fertile agricultural areas within Liguasan Marsh that will ultimately transform the said area into an economic zone of Southern Mindanao. The project also intends to achieve and sustain peace and order in the region through social and agricultural development," it added.

NIA said that in line with the government's target to develop irrigation facilities at Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, P2.1 billion worth of irrigation projects in the Lower Malitubog area with a service area of 800 Ha are being mulled.