Three harvests a year? Jalaur Dam makes it real

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

Farmers in parts of Calinog, Iloilo, have planted rice for a third cropping for the first time after the Jalaur River Multi-Purpose Project Stage II (JRMP II) began delivering irrigation water to previously rain-fed farmlands, the National Irrigation Administration Region 6 (NIA-6) said.

A total of 149 farmer-members of the AGBATO Calinog Irrigators Association Inc. have started their third rice crop within a single agricultural cycle, following the partial operation of the project’s irrigation system late last year.

The farmers are cultivating 139 hectares under Zone 1 Main Canal 2, part of the initial 500 hectares that have begun receiving irrigation water while the project remains under construction.

For decades, the farmers depended largely on rainfall, which limited them to fewer planting seasons.

NIA-6 Regional Manager Jonel Borres said the more reliable water supply from JRMP II allows farmers to increase cropping intensity, improve rice production, and potentially earn higher incomes.

He added that the early delivery of irrigation water shows communities are already benefiting even before the project’s full completion.

“Even though the JRMP II is still under construction, NIA is making sure that the people are already starting to feel its benefits of the project. It gives opportunities for livelihood and employment and brings progress, showing that progress does not start with the project completion but with its implementation,” Borres said.

Aside from Calinog, farmlands in the municipalities of Barotac Nuevo and Dumangas now enjoy uninterrupted irrigation after the rehabilitation of a lateral siphon crossing the downstream portion of the Jalaur River, part of the project’s rehabilitation of existing national irrigation systems.

JRMP II also continues to augment irrigation water for 10,336 hectares served by existing national irrigation systems (NIS) in Iloilo, benefiting 5,404 farmers.

Borres said the Jalaur Dam, the largest irrigation and water reservoir project outside Luzon, reached an overall physical accomplishment of 86.16% as of June 2026.

Civil works are targeted for completion by June 2027, while the remaining “soft components,” including the turnover of facilities, organization of irrigators’ associations, and project documentation, are expected to be finished by December 2027.

“By 2028, it will already be fully operational,” Borres said, stressing that the timelines remain realistic and attainable and that no extension is on the table.

“This year, we pray that there will be no more calamities so our contractors can focus on completing their contract works. We will ensure this through close monitoring,” he added.

With the project’s major dam structures completed, NIA-6 is now focused on the remaining irrigation components, including the 80-kilometer High Line Canal, main canals, lateral canals, and their appurtenant structures.

Once fully operational, JRMP II will expand NIA’s irrigation service area by 9,500 hectares, covering currently rain-fed agricultural lands in 17 Iloilo towns and benefiting an estimated 7,000 farmers and farm workers.

The project will likewise augment irrigation water for five existing NIS with a combined service area of about 22,340 hectares, directly benefiting around 17,000 farmer-beneficiaries.

With a year-round supply of irrigation water, JRMP II is projected to raise annual rice production to an estimated 338,874 metric tons, a 71.54% increase from the current 197,545 metric tons.

Its 6.6-megawatt hydroelectric power component will also provide clean, sustainable, and renewable energy for Iloilo.

The project’s bulk water component will generate around 86,400 cubic meters, or about 86 million liters, of water per day to augment demand in both Iloilo City and the province.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. inaugurated the Jalaur Dam on July 16, 2025, at the foot of its 109-meter high dam in Calinog, six years after its groundbreaking in 2019.

JRMP II, the first large-scale water reservoir in the Visayas and Mindanao, is being built by Daewoo Engineering and Construction Co. Ltd. under a contract signed in 2018 and is partly funded through an official development assistance loan from the Export-Import Bank of Korea.

The project’s original contract price of PHP 11.212 billion has since been restructured, with the national government approving an additional PHP 5.96 billion in late 2025 to complete its remaining irrigation components.