Davao City—The agriculture office of General Santos City distributed seedlings and other farm inputs to farmers and fishermen whose farms and coastal livelihood sources were damaged by a freak tornado last year.
The assistance was given to affected farmers and fishermen of barangays Tinagacan and Batomelong on January 15, where a freak tornado, locally called ipo-ipo, ravaged their farms and freshwater cages in April 2014.
Mayor Ronnel Rivera and personnel from the City Agriculturist Office distributed the seedlings.
The seedlings were mostly fruit trees, and include mango, coconut and banana.
The city government also handed out 100 sacks of organic fertilizers and 100 complete fertilizers.
A total of 61 farmers received the assistance.
The city government assistance cost P299,000, said Merlinda Donasco, head of City Agriculturist Office.
“The mayor already asked us to help these affected farmers. For us, enabling them to start again is the best assistance we could give. It is more than money,” Donasco said.
Meanwhile, assistance was also extended to fishermen from Barangay Bawing and Barangay West to repair or put up new shallow water fish shelters, locally known as payao.
The aid was given by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.
Some 30 fishermen from Bawing and 55 from West received aid worth P200,000.