AN official of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) said a total of 40,423 hectares of land, or 94 percent out of the total target under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) in Agusan del Norte, have been distributed by the government since 1988.
DAR Caraga Director Faisar Mambuay said a total of 20,312 farmers have so far benefited and continue to receive government support through the program.
Since year 2000, the DAR Caraga Regional Office reported that the DAR-Agusan del Norte office posted 57-percent growth, or a total of 22,860 hectares of distributed lands.
Agusan del Norte Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer II Andre B. Atega said the challenge is to distribute the remaining 2,793 hectares before June this year.
Atega said an innovative approach was introduced by DAR Caraga to accelerate land distribution by weekly monitoring the targeted lands for distribution, with the aid of Office Performance Commitment and Review.
This, he said, prompted them to work harder to meet the expected weekly output.
He said tens of thousands of farmers in Agusan del Norte continue to benefit from CARP and other government programs in the province and other parts of Caraga to boost farmers’ incomes.