ILOILO — A major shift in Iloilo’s agricultural landscape is underway.
Farmers in the upland town of Calinog begin harvesting rice for the third time in a year — an unprecedented breakthrough driven by the expanding irrigation reach of the Jalaur River Multipurpose Project Stage II (JRMP II).
For decades dependent solely on rainfall, at least 517 farmer-members of the Agbato Calinog Irrigators Association Inc. are now reaping the benefits of a steady water supply, allowing them to pursue a third cropping cycle and stabilize their income.
Steve Cordero, officer-in-charge for the Institutional Division of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) in Western Visayas, underscored the significance of this milestone.
“Calinog has no irrigation system. It’s the first time that they were able to double dry or third cropping,” Cordero.
NIA Region 6 is the implementing agency of the JRMP II, the biggest dam outside Luzon.
The transformation is most evident across around 500 hectares in Barangays Aglibacao, Badu, and Toyungan, now serviced by Zone 1, Main Canal 2 of the irrigation network. These areas, once classified as rainfed and vulnerable to erratic weather, are now emerging as reliable rice-producing zones.
Farmers had already experienced gains from the irrigation system during the second cropping season in October 2025, but the introduction of a third cycle marks a turning point in productivity and livelihood security.
While construction of the highline canal is still ongoing, irrigation delivery has already extended from Calinog to neighboring Lambunao town, signaling a phased but impactful rollout of the project.
Cordero said the agency is prioritizing immediate benefits for farmers instead of waiting for the full completion of the JRMP II project in 2027.
Once finished, it will irrigate more than 30,000 hectares of farmland, benefiting around 25,000 farmers and strengthening the province’s food production capacity amid recurring droughts and erratic weather.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who inaugurated the project in Calinog on July 16, 2024, has positioned the JRMP II as a flagship initiative under his administration’s agricultural modernization program.
Looking ahead, the irrigation expansion is expected to cover an additional 1,000 hectares stretching from Lambunao to Janiuay town, with canal works targeted for completion before the end of 2026.
“These are new areas, part of our commitment to open 9,500 hectares of new areas. Meaning these are rainfed before, they have no irrigation and are just waiting for rainwater to plant,” he said. “With the development, the farmers are assured of an income stream since they can now plant palay three times a year.”/PN
