The government of Norway, in collaboration with sustainable crop nutrition solutions specialist, Yara Fertilizers Philippines, Inc. (Yara), has been aiding Filipino farmers jack up productivity at their farm lands while shifting on their technology use to solar-powered water pumps.

Via the “Agos Para sa Masaganang Ani” program, the pilot initiative was instituted by the Norwegian government and private firm-partner Yara for farmers in Barangay Santa Cruz in Calapan, Oriental Mindoro.

Primarily, the Royal Norwegian Embassy extended P4.0 million grant to the project through Yara – and that amount had been used to procure and install 16 units of solar-powered water pumps which are now benefitting 55 farmers that have been raising crops across 80 hectares of rice fields.

If reckoned on the typical configuration, one water pump can irrigate up to 5.0 hectares of land being tilled for rice plantation.

All of the 16 units were already successfully installed; and the way forward will be for Yara to “continuously engage with the farmers until April this year to monitor and evaluate the irrigation system’s performance as well as its impact on the productivity and profitability of the farmer beneficiaries,” according to the Norwegian Embassy.

It further conveyed that the program now thrives as a proof-of-concept showcasing that the clean energy-food nexus could emerge as viable solution for the agriculture sector in the Philippines.

“Its goal is to bring down the cost of irrigation in the barangay, which currently uses traditional water pumps running on diesel fuel,” the Norwegian embassy said, adding that “the project would result in better profitability and secured yields for the farmers plus reduced CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions as the pumps will no longer rely heavily on diesel fuel to draw in water and irrigate the land.”

As emphasized by Norwegian Ambassador to the Philippines Christian Halaas Lyster,  “the government of Norway has always been supportive of projects that align with its advocacies such as climate change, environmental protection, and food security.”

He stressed “Norway gives priority to increasing food security and transitioning to renewable energy. This project does both at the same time.”

On the pilot project with farmers in Mindoro, the ambassador qualified that it is “something that can be scaled across different regions of the Philippines, to ensure increased food production while decreasing the overall carbon footprint.”

Yara Country Manager Michael Ardieta explained that the idea of installing solar-powered water pumps was calculatedly thought out within the precept of advancing a nature-positive food future for the Philippines.

“Under that ambition is climate neutrality, regenerative agriculture, and prosperity. So, for this project, instead of using 100% diesel – it’s solar power that will be used so we can reduce emissions,” he noted.

He expounded that for a regenerative future, their company will be providing “crop nutrition solutions as part of proper farming management like planting at the right time, putting the right amount and type of fertilizers, plus of course, the availability of water source.”

As Ardieta opined, “when we say prosperity, what we want is for the farmers to benefit…we want their income to go up. And if their cost of production will be reduced by using less diesel and relying on solar power instead, then it’d mean additional income for them…that’s basically the main rationale for this project.”