DAR DISTRIBUTES P3.5 WORTH OF FARM EQUIPMENT, FARM INPUTS TO AGNOR ORGS

In response to the plight of the farmers from the effects of climate change, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) of Agusan del Norte provided farm machineries and livelihood support to 13 Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Organizations (ARBOs), under the Climate Resilient Farm Productivity Support Project (CRFPSP).

By Gil E. Miranda According to DAR Agusan Norte Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer (PARPO) II Andre B. Atega, the CRFPSP is one of the flagship programs of the department dealing with the problem of food shortage caused by climate change. PARPO II Atega said that the DAR-CRFPSP provided the farmers with needed support services comprising farm machineries and livelihood support in the form of farm inputs aimed to address poverty challenges brought by climate change. He explained that this year, the DAR allocated P3.5-Million for CRFPSP project comprising farm machineries and farm inputs, worth Php2,473,500 and 1,038,300, respectively. The farmers living in as

front lines of crises ranging from extreme weather conditions brought by climate change to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. DAR Agusan del Norte PARPO I Rodrigo B. Bitangcor underscored that the intervention is a grant for those farmers living in vulnerable areas where farmers endured the effects of the weather brought from climate change. “The agency successfully delivered the farm equipment and farm inputs to the ARBOs despite the reported delays due to office lockdown brought about by the coronavirus pandemic,” Bitangcor said. Ellen Torralba, officer-in-charge Chief Agrarian Reform Program Officer of the Program Beneficiaries Development Division of DAR-Agusan del Norte, said despite the pandemic the department remains committed to help improve the farmers’ organizations. Torralba said the majority of ARBOs are involved in rice and vegetable production. She emphasized the role of the ARBOs to take care of the project as these will enhance their efficiency and productivity. According to CRFPSP provincial coordinators Raul N. Hermoso, in an interview, that this intervention significantly improved the living condition of the agrarian reform beneficiaries and their organizations. “The unpredicted weather was also a hindering factor, which affect farmers’ farming activities, but with the much-needed equipment the farmers become resilient,” Hermoso added. In an interview with Welito T. Mante, Chair of the Basag Irrigator’s Association (BasagIA), he was grateful to the department for its endeavor to extend various farm equipment and farm inputs. This was also the collective voice of the farmers’ groupleaders who benefitted from the project. “It is an answered prayer. Pasalamat gyud mi sa DAR, sa ilang package of intervention, dako ni’g tabang sa panginabuhian sa among grupo (We are very much grateful for DAR’s package of intervention, it could be a great help to increase income to our group),” said Mante. (DAR Agusan del Norte/PIA Agusan del Norte)