SAN JOSE, Antique, Philippines – Antique province has scheduled the repair, rehabilitation, and improvement of about 60 existing Communal Irrigation Systems (CIS) around the province.

This is in line with the Irrigated Rice Production Enhancement Program (IRPEP) of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and its attached agency, the National Irrigation Administration (NIA).

Under this program, an implementation arrangement between the DA-NIA and Local Government Units and Irrigators' Associations (LGU-IA) will be forged, putting into focus highlights of the equity and counterparting scheme among its stakeholders.

Through a 70-30 sharing scheme, the LGU-IA will assume 30 percent equity of the cost of civil works while the remaining 70 percent of total cost will be shouldered by the DA-NIA as a grant.

On the other hand, the Antique provincial government, through Governor Exequiel B. Javier, is mulling the absorption of the project’s required equity/counterpart to sustain and further improve the rice sufficiency program in the province.

A total estimated cost of P192 million, divided into P182 million for infrastructure and P10 million for NIA-organizational strengthening will be funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).