Bicol integrated area development III (Rinconada/Buhi-Lalo)

The project will complement other Bicol IAD programs by providing new irrigation systems and developing farmer organizations to maintain them, providing agricultural inputs, and reversing the deterioration of upland watersheds. The Philippine National Irrigation Administration (NIA) will be the lead implementing agency. The project will provide dependable, dry-season, gravity flow irrigation water from Lake Buhi to 8,000 ha of riceland by constructing a lake control structure and forebay regulation facilities and by excavating 3 km of the 6 km outlet channel. From the forebay, a left bank connector canal will be built to divert water to allow double cropping on 2,700 ha of land in the Lalo irrigation system extension area (only 1,100 ha of which are currently irrigated). A major flume will be built over the Daraga River; 89 km of main, lateral, and drainage canals and terminal facilities will be constructed or improved; water management facilities and 67 km of service roads will be provided; and a regional water management training center will be upgraded. The NIA will design and contract for construction and will be responsible for post-project operation and maintenance. Various levels of farmer irrigator groups will be formed to maintain main and supplementary farm ditches and drains. Successful water management is expected to expand farmer interest in cooperatives. An estimated 2,800 farmers, group leaders, and NIA technicians will be trained in water management, improved production methods, and cooperative development, with additional training provided to women through Rural Improvement Clubs. Credit, fertilizers, and insecticides will be made available to farmers through an intensive extension program (130 farmers per technician), and 10 farm-level production and fertilizer trials will be conducted. In the Lake Buhi watershed, 1,350 ha of rice/corn land owned by 900 farmers will be improved; up to 270 ha will be bench-terraced or contour-farmed; and 900 ha of family orchards and 180 ha of firewood lots will be established. In addition, 800 ha of denuded public forest lands will be reforested, graded mountain access trails will be improved, and farmers will be trained in production and soil conservation and organized into groups.