At least P84 million worth of machinery equipment and other agicultural inputs were distributed over the last two weeks by the Department of Agriculture and local governments units to farmers in the Bicol and Abra provinces, to boost their productivity and incomes.
Some 985 farmers in Camarines Sur received cash aid and advanced agricultural machinery from the Department of Agriculture (DA) on August 25.
The DA Bicol Region Office said on August 27, that at least 627 rice farmers, listed in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture, each received P7,000 in financial aid to enhance farm productivity and sustainability through the Rice Farmers Financial Assistance program. The cash aid alone totaled P4.38 million.
In Bangued, Abra, farmers’ cooperatives and associations from the different municipalities of the province, received more than 400 units of agricultural machineries from the provincial government.
Abra Vice Governor Anne Bersamin and personnel from the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) distributed the equipment such as rice mills, grass cutters, water pumps, hand tractors, and knapsack sprayers to the beneficiaries at the Abra Sports Complex in Bangued on August 20. The press statement did not indicate the total worth of the machineries.
In Legazpi City, Albay, P78.9 million worth of agricultural machinery were reportedly distributed to farmers’ cooperatives and associations.
In a report on August 22, the Albay Provincial Information Office said the province handed over four-wheel tractors and rice combine harvesters to 22 farmers’ groups from the Bicol Region’s six provinces.
In Camarines Sur, three farmers’ cooperatives with 203 members received the upgraded and advanced farming machinery. The farm equipment included a combine harvester for the Sto. Niño Ocampo Farmers Association in Ocampo; a four-wheel-drive tractor for the Bigaas Corn Cluster Association in Calabanga, and a forage chopper for the Kilomaon Integrated Farmers Association in Sagñay.
Two four-wheel-drive tractors were delivered to the provincial government of Camarines Sur and the San Antonio Cagbunga Agriculture Cooperative.
The Catanusan Farmer Agriculture Cooperative and the San Roque Danawan Farmers Association received a rice combine harvester and a four-wheel-drive tractor from the DA PhilMech.
The assistance will benefit 122 cooperative members and other farmers throughout Camarines Sur.
A check worth P300,000 was also issued to support a three-hectare nursery for the propagation of a high-yielding variety for sugarcane in a project led by the Sugar Regulatory Administration. The project will benefit 33 members of the Sto. Niño Small Farmers Association in Pili, Camarines Sur, the SRA said.
In Abra, the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist, aided by municipal agriculture officers, facilitated the distribution of 400 units of farm machineries to farmers’ cooperatives and associations.
Baac Farmers Association President Domar Castillo, who comes from Langiden, welcomed the rice mill equipment granted to them, saying they will no longer have to pay rice mill charges.
“ This will be used by the members of the association. They will no longer have to spend on labor cost and rice mill charges since we already have our own rice mill. This is a huge relief for us because we will be saving money ,” Castillo explained.
Abra Vice Governor Anne Bersamin said the distribution of the machineries was an initiative of the provincial government to boost farmers’ production through various agricultural inputs.
“ This is a program to increase the yield and minimize the loss of our farmers here in Abra. This is also one of the 8-point agenda of the provincial government to improve the lives of the farmers and the economy ,” the vice governor stressed.
The package of assistance was in line with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s directive to invest in food security, she said. (PNA, PIA)
