DAVAO CITY—About 1,500 farmers in Soccsksargen are expected to get nearly P1 billion worth of farm equipment and projects.
Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala and Sen. Cynthia Villar are expected to lead the turnover of farm machines, postharvest facilities and other farm equipment costing P955.39 million.
These would be complemented with farm-to-market roads, irrigation systems and fund transfers to cooperatives in what the Department of Agriculture (DA) described would be “a grand distribution set at Tupi Seed Farm, Bololmala, Tupi, South Cotabato.”
The government would also turn over P636 million worth of subprojects for farm roads, which will be implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways. Another set of projects would be given the so-called Certificate of Availability of Funds for other farm roads estimated to be worth P151.4 million, which would be implemented under the World Bank-funded Philippine Rural Development Project.
Alcala would also hand over the projects from the DA’s Agri-Pinoy banner and regular programs as well as from its special programs, such as the Bottom-Up Budgeting (BUB); Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (Pamana); and the Soccsksargen Area Development Project Office.
Soccsksargen, or Region 12, covers South Cotabato, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos City. These places comprise the rich Cotabato plains irrigated by the Cotabato river basin.
DA 12 Regional Executive Director Amalia Jayag-Datukan said the Agri-Pinoy Rice Program would hand over P50 million worth of farm machines and other facilities.
The Agri-Pinoy Corn Program would provide P8.1 million and the Agri-Pinoy High-Value Crops Development Program, P6.2 million.
Datukan said the “state-of-the-art postharvest facilities, such as Rice Processing Center 1, Rice Processing Center 2 as well as Village-type corn-on-cobs Dryer would be given to identified farmer-cooperatives.”
Farmers will also get 28 floating tillers; 25 rice combine harvesters; five four-wheel drive tractors with backhoe; one four-wheel drive tractor with complete accessories; seven corn shellers; 13 corn mills; 15 cassava granulators; 13 coffee dehullers; and six multicultivators.
The DA would also turn over the certificates for the construction of the Dukay Intake and concreting of the main canal in Barangay Dukay, Esperanza, Sultan Kudarat and improvement of irrigation lined canal in Barangay Glan Padidu, Glan, Sarangani.
Alcala would distribute checks for BUB programs to the Sultan Kudarat municipal governments of Palimbang and Columbio and the Pamana-supported projects to the town of Columbio, Sultan Kudarat, and Maasim, Sarangani.
Alcala and Villar would visit the cassava granules processing plant of Polo Samahang Nayon Multi-purpose Cooperative in Barangay Polo, Polomolok, South Cotabato.
The Polo cooperative is the lead proponent of South Cotabato’s P39.3-million cassava granules production project, the marketing plan of which was described by the World Bank as “world-class.”