Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said government has earmarked a historic high of P3 billion for irrigation projects covering about 98.000 hectares of croplands to increase farm yields and boost agricultural growth for about four to five percent.

He also said that with such amount the national Irrigation Administration (NIA) will be able to repair and rehabilitate irrigation facilities serving almost a hundred thousand hectares this year.

He added the P3-billion rehabilitation work is by far the biggest reform program for Philippine irrigation undertaken in the last 30 years.

The Department of Agriculture is also increasing public spending on seed technology and on infrastructure like irrigation systems and post-harvest facilities this year.

Yap said the government is pouring more money into the farm sector in 2007, where its sights are trained on making Philippine agriculture pull away in 2008.

This is based on what he said as a flood of agri-business investments from China that would cover1.2 million hectares in the next 12 to 18 months.

Yap said the P3-billion allocation for irrigation this year is anchored on the approval of the proposed 2007 General Appropriations Act, which includes a DA outlay that is roughly P5 billion more than its allotment last year.

Source: www.pia.gov.ph