TCP2 Newsletter T h e O f f i c i a l N e w s l e t t e r o f t h e N I A - J I C A
I A S t r e n g t h e n i n g S u p p o r t P r o j e c t ( T C P 2 )
July-August 2009. Volume 2, Issue 2.
A t the halfway of the duration of the
“Irrigators Association Strengthening
Support Project” (TCP2), NIA and JICA
conducted a mid-term review from June 22
to July 9, 2009. Results of the evaluation
and proposed revision to the Project De-
sign Matrix (PDM) and Plan of Operation
(PO) were presented and approved in the
3rd Joint Coordinating Committee Meeting
on July 9, 2009.
The review team consisted of Engr.
Tomas Francia and Engr. Cesar Pobre from
the Philippines side and Dr. Kunihiro To-
kida, Mr. Yoshihisa Kimura, Ms. Naoko
Inada and Mr. Pablo Lucero from Japan
side. The team conducted field survey,
collected data and information, interviewed
RIO, IMO, and NISO personnel as well as
IA representatives. They also examined
documents prepared by the Project and
assessed the degree of achievement of the
Project.
The team concluded in their report that
the progress of implementation of the ac-
tivities has been mostly achieved as
planned. Therefore, the effectiveness of
the Project is rated satisfactory. The Pro-
ject is still relevant to the policy outlined in
the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization
Act (AFMA) and on NIA’s IMT policy and
capacity development programs for IAs.
Institutional development of IAs and
NISO in target systems has been carried
out well and the positive change in their
awareness and attitude can be observed. It
is expected that the Project purpose will be
achieved by the end of the Project if capac-
ity development activities are followed up
continuously.
The review team also made some rec-
ommendations regarding measures to be
taken for the remaining project period on
1) improvement of the monitoring system;
2) improvement of training material and
standardization of training methods; 3)
establishment of functional IA Federations
and System Management Committee
(SMC); 4) emphasizing the role of Institu-
tional Development Officers (IDOs) in IA
strengthening and in conducting follow-up
activities; 5) technical support for NIA staff
on irrigation water management; and 6)
sharing of lessons learned and experiences
of the Project to other donors.
The main part of the PDM revision is on
additional activities for Output 2 (Activity 2-
4) to establish system level organization
settings for efficient resources management
and for better coordination between NIA,
IAs and other stakeholders. Some indicators
of Project purpose and other criteria of indi-
cator of outputs were also revised.
The report also stated that as minor
rehabilitation works, such as manual desil-
tation and canal lining, were conducted
with the participation of IA members, some
NISO staff felt that the participatory ap-
proach in minor rehabilitation has given
them additional workload especially in su-
pervising farmers at work. However, in
general, coinciding the conduct of rehabili-
tation with the participation of farmers at
the same time with capacity development
are integral part of IMT. Therefore, given
this situation, it must be necessary to rein-
force NISOs especially in the hiring and
capacitating of IDOs who deal directly with
the farmers.
Mid-term Review Team bares results,
rates TCP2 effectiveness as satisfactory By Nariaki Tamura, TCP2 Chief Advisor
As with all technical cooperation projects (TCP) of JICA, the NIA-JICA IA Strengthening Support Project (TCP2) went through a NIA-JICA
Joint Mid-term Review as it nears the end of the first half of its im-plementation and gears up for its second half. The Review was con-
ducted by representatives from the Philippine and Japanese sides from June 22 to July 9, 2009. Here are some snaps from their activities!
a. Interview with JICA experts (June 29); b. Interview with NIA CO counterparts (June 29); c. Interview with BVRIS NISO staff (June 23);
d. Interview with Amburayan RIS IA representatives (July 1); e. Site visit and inspection of minor rehab works in Padada RIS (July 1); and f. Signing of M/M and Mid-term Review Report between NIA and JICA
during the Joint Coordinating Committee meeting (July 9)
SNAPS Photo highlights of major TCP2 events and activities for 2009.
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c e f d
TCP2 Newsletter
TCP2 convenes 3rd JCC Meeting and Project Implementers Workshop
O n July 9, 2009, the members of TCP2’s
Joint Coordinating Committee (JCC)
gathered at the historic Camelot Hotel in
Mother Ignacia Avenue in Quezon City for
its 3rd Regular Meeting. Coinciding with said
event was the conduct of the Project Imple-
menters Workshop (PIW).
Agenda tackled during meeting were:
(1) TCP2 progress report covering the period
October 1, 2007 to July 1, 2009); (2) Joint
NIA-JICA TCP2 mid-term evaluation report;
(3) Amendments to the Project Design Ma-
trix (PDM) and Plan of Operation (PO).
Meanwhile, the PIW was held basically to
finalize the individual program of works
(POW) for the second year of TCP2 for the
covered eight (8) national irrigation systems.
NIA Administrator Carlos S. Salazar, in
his opening remarks before the meeting
proper, emphasized the relevance of
strengthening the IAs for them to become
effective partners of NIA in improving the
From left to right: NIA Administrator Carlos S. Salazar underscores the importance of IA strengthening in the achievement of goals for the improvement of O&M of
irrigation facilities and increase in farm production; Mr. Norio Matsuda, JICA Philippines Chief Representative, congratulates the Project implementers for what have been
achieved so far and urges them to keep on doing so for the continued success and sustainability of the Project; TCP2 Chief Advisor Nariaki Tamura presents the TCP2
projects and achievements from October 2007 to July 2009; Engr. Tomas Francia, co-team leader from the Philippine side for the Review, explains the recommendations
given by the Review team for TCP2; and Dr. Kunihiro Tokida, team leader from the Japanese side, discusses some proposed revis ions to the Project’s PDM and PO and
responds to questions and comments regarding the Mid-term Review Report.
By Bayani P. Ofrecio, IDD, Operations Department
operation and maintenance of irrigation
systems which is expected to result to
increased farm productivity. He also en-
joined all those involved in the project to
continue to actively do their share in
achieving the goals of TCP2.
In his own message to both the meeting
and workshop participants, JICA Chief Rep-
resentative Norio Matsuda pointed out that
despite encountering some difficulties dur-
ing the first half of the project implementa-
tion, TCP2 was able to produce good re-
sults. He stressed that concerted efforts for
project success of all concerned must be
sustained and geared towards attainment of
the expected project goal, purpose and
outputs. He further advised to seriously
consider the findings as well as the recom-
mendations of the Mid-term Review team.
Hearing the report of the Mid-term Re-
view team, the JCC members, after an in-
teractive exchange of opinions and delibera-
a. JICA experts Hiromasa Suzuki, Takamitsu Matsuo and Nariaki Tamura answer questions on the TCP2 Progress report; b. Mr. Bayani Ofrecio from NIA CO-IDD served as moderator for JCC and facilitator for the PIW; c. Ms. Naoko Inada presents the Review conclusions based on the five criteria of evaluation; d. Ms. Zenaida Villegas from DA-PDS raises comments on the PDM revi-sions; and e. M/M was signed by NIA’s Engr. Antonio Galvez and JICA’s Mr. Norio Matsuda
SNAPS Photo highlights of major TCP2 events and activities for 2009.
a
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tion, received and approved the report in-
cluding the revision of the PDM and PO. It
was recommended that NIA should share
the lessons learned and those to be to be
learned more from this technical coopera-
tion undertaking to achieve greater impact.
The JCC meeting culminated with the
signing of the minutes of meeting by Mr.
Matsuda and NIA Deputy Administrator
Antonio A. Galvez (in behalf of Administra-
tor Salazar). Likewise, the official Mid-term
Evaluation report was signed by Dr. Kuni-
hiro Tokida, Team Leader for the Japanese
side and Engr. Tomas Francia, co-Team
Leader for the Philippine side.
The PIW was actually held only after
the JCC meeting was adjourned at lunch-
time. While actual submission of the Year 2
POW was not done during the workshop
duration, as there were details needing
consultation with other field implementers,
it was agreed that the deadline for submis-
sion will be on or before July 17, 2009.
TCP2 Newsletter
“W e hope that these activities
will give us good information
and good result for us to fast track and
have a successful implementation of
the IMT program,” said Engr. Edilberto
Lomigo, NIA Region 6 Regional Irriga-
tion Manager, during the Regional and
IMO Irrigation Management Transfer
(IMT) Orientation and Planning Work-
shop held in Iloilo City on July 21-22,
2009 which was attended by TCP2
staff. This message sums up the main
purpose of the IMT orientation and
workshop activities being conducted
nationwide from July to September
2009.
This activity is being spearheaded
by the Operations Department under
the Office of the Deputy Administrator
for Engineering and Operations. The
series of orientations and workshops
being held are done in close coordina-
tion with the NIA RIO. The orientation
and workshop schedule for other TCP2
covered regions are as follows: Region
1 – July 18-19, 2009; Region 3 – July
16, 2009; and Region 11 –
August 10-15, 2009. The
purpose of the orientation is
for every IMO/ISO to have
one understanding of IMT
and its processes in order to
create a unified program of
implementation of IMT-
related activities across all
the regions.
The program flow for this
activity includes the review of
the regional/IMO/ISO per-
formance, IMT concepts,
guidelines (which include legal
bases, goals and objectives,
and O&M contract types) and
processes, the National Irriga-
tion Management Fund and
Patubigayan Trust Fund, and
the formulation of the Pro-
gram of Work for the 5-year
IMT implementation in individ-
ual IMO/ISO. Other additional
topics and discussions may
also vary in other regions.
NIA CO-IDD and RIO-IDS hold nationwide Regional and IMO IMT Orientation and Workshop By Geralyn A. Rigor, PMO
Engr. Edilberto Lomigo, NIA RIO 6 Regional Irrigation Manager, encourages IMO representatives to take the opportunity to learn as much as they can
about IMT for them to have a more efficient and effective implementation.
Engr. Bayani Ofrecio, from NIA CO IDD, presents a review of the IMT
Program to representatives from NIA RIO and the nine IMOs of Region 6.
In this second demo farm batch, the total covered area is
30.24 hectares in the municipality of Hagonoy, Davao del Sur and
involves 36 farmer-cooperators. The AWD area totals to 15.47
hectares and the Normal Irrigation (NI) covers 14.76 hectares.
Different LGU sectors from the municipality of Hagonoy, led by
Hon. Franco Magno Calida, have shown strong support for the NIA
-JICA IA Strengthening Support Program since the Project’s first
AWD launch in September 2008. This is in line with one of the
goals of Hagonoy LGU to educate its farmers on the latest technol-
ogy, particularly with the WST.
Apart from this, farmer-cooperators from the pilot IA are also
being invited to the municipal hall to share their experiences on
the AWD demo farm to visitors coming from other regions. With
this, the NISO staff are expecting AWD to further expand among
the farmers and IAs within the system and even beyond to other
systems and regions.
T he second batch of demonstration farm on water saving tech-
nology (WST) through Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD)
was launched on July 10, 2009 with LAPOSA IA as its new recipi-
ent Irrigators Association. This Wet Cropping Season 2009, the
farmer-cooperators were eager to experience the success on Wa-
ter Saving Technology demonstrated during the implementation
with the first pilot IA, BASISFIA.
JICA provided funds for the implementation of the first batch
of Demo Farm in the previous Dry Cropping Season 2009. The
initial JICA fund from the first batch was replenished by the pilot
recipients and now serves as the revolving fund for the turn of
LAPOSA IA to implement AWD.
Moreover, JICA provided an additional fund amounting to PHP
100,000 for the Demo Farm for the purchase of perched tubes,
meter sticks, clip boards and other monitoring materials for the
newly identified farmer-cooperators this season.
Padada RIS launches 2nd batch of AWD demo farms By Tony Apiag, IDO, Padada RIS, Region 11
Left: Padada NISO
Principal Engr. A Manuel
Rañeses and Hagonoy
Mayor Franco Magno
Calida spearheads the
distribution of inputs and
monitoring materials to
new farmer-cooperators.
Right: The demonstra-
tion on the actual farm
installation of the perch
tube. The farmer-
cooperators for the 2nd
batch of AWD demo farm
consist of 36 members
from LAPOSA IA.
PMO conducts
new organizational
setting study for
TCP2 areas
TCP2 Newsletter
O n June 3 to 17, 2009, the Project
Management Office staff conducted organizational setting study in TCP2 pilot
areas in Regions 1, 3, 6 and 11 to confirm the final organizational setting in NIA field
offices covered by the Project once the NIA
Rationalization Plan (Rat Plan) has been implemented. The study was conducted by
the PMO staff from both JICA and NIA.
The study was also done to be reas-
sured that project activities will be sus-
tained and continued until its completion despite the on-going NIA Rat Plan. As NIA’s
Rat Plan has started its implementation, JICA experts are concerned that its im-
pacts, especially on personnel and human
resources in field offices, might hamper and affect the conduct of TCP2 activities.
Nevertheless, as far as the results of the organizational setting study has
shown, field offices in the six NIS sites
assured that retirement and reassignment of staff would not have much negative
impact in the implementation of the Pro-ject. It was also confirmed that most of
the field staff assigned for the Project will remain working with TCP2 towards its
completion.
This result is based on the assumption that these personnel/staff will not resign,
especially the hired contractual IDOs. In line with this, the PMO would like to put
an emphasis on the important role of
IDOs in the conduct of IA strengthening activities not only for TCP2 but for other
NIA projects as well. The possibility of hiring IDOs for these purposes should
also be given consideration.
EDITORIAL BOARD:
Renato S. Gamboa ● Bayani P. Ofrecio ● Hiromasa Suzuki ● Nenita H. Ramon ● Geralyn A. Rigor
CONTRIBUTOR FOR THIS ISSUE:
Tony Apiag, IDO, Padada RIS, Region 11
JICA-NIA IA STRENGTHENING
SUPPORT PROJECT (TCP2)
Project Management Office, 3rd Floor, IDD,
National Irrigation Administration
Diliman, EDSA, Quezon City, Metro Manila
Telefax: (02) 925-32-06
E-mail: [email protected]
On-Going Demonstration Farms Under TCP2 (Wet Season 2009)
* Demo farms in BVRIS are for the second round demonstration of AWD in the original DF area.
O ne of the biggest responsibilities of
NIA is the “delivery of water” to the paddy fields for the farmers to have
good production. However, even though enough water is delivered to the paddy
fields, the production level may be
stunted due to some reasons.
For instance, in Bucao RIS in Boto-
lan, Zambales, the water volume of the paddy is apparently enough to grow
palay but the production level has always
been low in particular volcanic ash-affected areas. The level of the rice pro-
duction was as low as 40-60 cavans/ha.
Given this situation in the Bucao
system, TCP2 coordinated with JICA
experts from PhilRice to conduct soil analysis. The soil in the system was
found to have a “reductive soil disor-der”. PhilRice recommended that oxy-
gen should be supplied to the soil
(please refer to TCP2 Newsletter Vol. 2 Iss. 1 for other results).
Apart from this, JICA experts also recommended that the Minus-One Ele-
ment Test (MOET), a soil analysis test developed by PhilRice, should be done
to determine what other elements are
missing and to make recommendations for favorable fertilization of the soil.
Brgy. Mambog in Botolan, Zam-bales was the site selected for conduct-
ing MOET. MOET is the method to iden-
tify shortage of elements in the soil by using 7 different kind of chemical com-
position in planting pots. And this method can determine shortage in N,
P, K, Zn, Cu, and S. With the initiative
of Engr. Jose Aguila and Engr. Rosendo Punzalan, Bucao RIS field staff, the
season-long experiment to determine the cause of this low production was
conducted.
The experiment results showed some element shortages of Nitrogen
and Sulfur in the soil. With this result, PhiRice gave the following fertilization
advice:
1. According to MOET data, N, P, K and S are insufficient, but Zn seems
sufficient.
2. Therefore, favorable fertilization is
as follows (1 bag=50kg, 1/2 bag=25kg):
● For basal dressing (rainy season:
use at 10-14 days after transplant-ing) – 4 bags 14-14-14 (including
11% of S) + 1/2 bag 16-20-0.
● For 1st top dressing (panicle initia-
tion stage: about 45 days after seed-
ing) – 2 bags 21-0-0 (ammonium sulphate: including S) + 1/2 bag 0-0
-60 (or 1 bag urea 46-0-0).
● After 1st top dressing (based on the
Leaf Color Chart (LCC)) – when the
LCC is 4 or under, either ammonium sulphate or urea should be used).
Now, we again recognize that NIA should look at total farming
practices and not only water deliv-
ery. Only then can the irrigation system maximize its full potential
for agriculture production. Other-wise, our effort for delivering water
may be impaired by other avoidable
factors.
This year, with these results and
recommendations, we are expecting Bucao RIS farmers to improve their
fertilizing method to suit the current
soil condition. And may farmers enjoy a more bountiful harvest than
ever!
Top: Observations and results of Bucao MOET experiment.
Bottom: Transplanting in different chemical composition pots.
From left: complete, N, P, K, Zn, S, and Cu.
Complete -N -P -K -Zn -S -Cu
03-24-09 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 -K, -Zn. -S, -Cu = Yellow leaf
03-31-09 6 4 5 5 6 5 6
04-07-09 12 4 7 9 11 9 9
04-14-09 17 6 13 14 16 13 14 -N = Yellow leaf
04-21-09 19 7 14 16 17 13 16 -P = Grassy
04-28-09 19 7 14 16 17 13 16
05-06-09 19 7 14 16 17 13 16
Diagnosis**
84%
Date of
Observation*
Number of tillers Other observations (color
of the leaves, etc.)
Percent (%) of
til ler number
compared to
"complete"
100% 37% 74% 84% 89% 68%
Organizational setting study in Masalip NISO in Region 1
was conducted by PMO Staff and participated by Regional IDS Staff, IMO Staff and Masalip NISO O&M Staff.
By Hiromasa Suzuki, TCP2 Project Coordinator
By Nenita H. Ramon, PMO
Bucao RIS completes MOET experiment
Rice plant growth shows
Nitrogen shortage
Region NIS Area (ha) Number of
Cooperators IA Recipi-
ents Loca-tion
AWD NI Total AWD NI Total
Reg. 6
Barotac Viejo
RIS 30 3 33 25 3 28 BMFIA Lat. B
Mambusao RIS 13.91 5.90 19.81 21 7 28 TATAG IA Lat. A
Reg. 11
Padada RIS 15.47 14.76 30.23 20 16 36 LAPOSA IA Lat. A
Saug-Libuganon
Left RIS 26.82 5.75 32.57 19 2 21 LATESIA
Lat. E
East
TOTAL 86.2 29.41 115.61 85 28 113