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.

a b

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

b c e d

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: jicaniatcp2@gmail.com

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