CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Dec. 18 -- A PHP20-million solar-powered irrigation system will be built to revive agricultural productivity in a key vegetable-growing village in Bukidnon.

In a statement on Thursday, Department of Agriculture-Region 10 (Northern Mindanao) Executive Director Jose Apollo Pacamalan said the project is a partnership with the First Community Cooperative.

Pacamalan said the system aims to restore farm production in the upland barangay of Miarayon in Talakag town.

"Miarayon was once a vegetable gold mine of Bukidnon, but over the years its productivity declined. One major factor was market mismatch and over-dependence on buyers outside the region," the DA-10 chief noted.

He explained that farmers relied heavily on Mani...