WIVES of farmers in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro will soon venture into food-processing to produce squash and malunggay by-products to help boost incomes from vegetable farming.
The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has recently approved the construction of a food-processing center in Calapan City to serve as the farmers’ production building.
A memorandum of agreement was signed between the DAR in Mimaropa, led by Regional Director Erlinda Pearl Armada and the local government unit of Calapan City for the construction of the squash and malunggay processing center.
The project worth around P600,000 was identified as a priority project by city officials following consultation with farmers from Sitio Bondoc in Barangay Guinobatan, where the processing center will be constructed.
Under the agreement, the DAR will shoulder P480,000, while the city government will shoulder P120,000.
The squash-canton production project in the said barangay will employ 40 women members of Guinobatan ARC Cooperative (Garcco) who are directly involved in squash-canton processing, and 25 squash and malunggay ARB-growers.
The beneficiaries, based on a study conducted by DAR, will earn the beneficiaries an estimated P400 per day or P8,000 income for a 20-day production cycle.
Based on the farmers’ project proposal’s projected income statement, the return on investment of the project during the first year of operation is 17.40 percent, with the cooperative expected to earn P66,000 monthly, or P792,000 annually.
Oriental Mindoro Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer Marilou C. Baslan said the Department of Science and Technology has already awarded upgraded equipment for the cooperative, and the farmers are just awaiting the construction of the production building.
Packaging enhancement and a series of trainings on noodle processing and current good manufacturing practices will be conducted in the next few weeks to improve Garcco’s noodle production system and make it compliant with food safety standards.
Jonathan L. Mayuga