The Department of Agrarian Reforms (DAR) on Monday assured continuous support services for agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs), including measures to cope with the impact of climate change.

In a press release on Monday, DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella III cited Kalinga, farmer-beneficiaries from Barangay Caloocan, Rizal who have benefitted from the PHP18 million solar-powered irrigation system (SPIS).

Estrella said farmer-members of the Rizal Indigent Farmers Irrigators Association have received the diesel-less irrigation scheme from DAR as part of the initial wave of support services that the department will provide to the ARBs of Kalinga.

“Aming inaalagaan ang mga magsasaka tulad ng ginawa ng yumaong Pangulong Ferdinand E Marcos, Sr. at ng aking lolo na si dating Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella Sr. noong nakaraang pagpapatupad ng land reform program (We are taking care of the farmers just like what the late President Ferdinand E Marcos Sr. and my grandfather former Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella Sr. did during the previous implementation of the land reform program),” he said.

Estrella assured that DAR looks at and seizes every opportunity to create projects and adopt measures that will help mitigate the impact of climate change especially for farmers.

DAR-Kalinga Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer Adela Damaso said the SPIS project can irrigate 60 hectares of agricultural lands that will benefit about 50 ARB households and other neighboring farmers.

“The SPIS is a cost-efficient and climate change adaptive technology that does not require the use of fuel. It is not affected by power interruptions, is easy to operate, environmentally friendly, suitable for remote watersheds and rain-fed areas, and requires minimal maintenance,” Damaso said. (PNA)