KORONADAL CITY, South Cotabato, Sept. 13 (PIA) -- At least 43 farmer associations across SOCCSKSARGEN Region have benefited from the latest distribution of P140.7-milliion worth of farm machineries and other interventions from the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech)
On Thursday, the Undersecretary for Regulations Zamzamin Ampatuan, DA 12 Regional Executive Director Arlan Mangelen, and PhilMech Mindanao B Cluster chief Domingo Miranda led the mass distribution ceremony at the Tupi Research and Experiment Station where participants were mandated to physically distance and wear face masks and face shield in accordance with mandated minimum health standards due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Data provided to Philippine Information Agency indicated that DA 12 turned over 47 threshers, 7 shallow tube wells, 25 seed spreaders, 26 hand tractors, 41 transplanters, 6 grain collectors, 4 floating tillers, 22 corn shellers, 2 generator sets, 4 corn mills, 4 four-wheel drive tractors, 20 plastic drums, 8 coffee pulpers, 5 coffee hullers, 137 rolls of 1" HDPE pipes, 33 rolls of 2"HDPE pipes, 120 plastic crates, 275 units of flower inducers, 2 incubators.
DA also gave out P7.5 M worth of pesticides against fall army worms (FAW) to seven local government units, namely: Bagumbayan, Senator Ninoy Aquino, Lebak, Lambayong and Tacurong City in Sultan Kudarat and Tantangan and Tupi in South Cotabato.
Engr. Miranda noted that PhilMech interventions for SOCCSKSARGEN Region include 25 four-wheeled tractors, 24 hand tractors, 50 floating tillers, 5 precision tillers, 1 walk-behind transplanters, 3 riding type transplanters, 3 reapers, 17 rice combine harvesters, and 3 mobile rice mills.
Twenty-nine farmer groups and irrigators associations in South Cotabato, Cotabato Province, Sultan Kudarat, and Sarangani have benefited from the PhilMech project.
According to a PhilMech staff, what was distributed to the farmer beneficiaries on Thursday constituted only about 40 percent of their distribution target for this year.
More farm machines intended to boost farmer productivity will be distributed later this year until around first quarter of 2021.
In his message, Usec. Ampatuan urged the recipient farmer organizations to properly manage the farm machines given to them by the government for free and make use of these to prosper productivity of their members.
“They (farmer association beneficiaries) should take care of these machineries for extended use. It is also important that they make clear their production objectives,” Usec. Said, emphasizing further that “these interventions are given to boost their yield and increase their income.
“They should also account the cost of the government support and pay this back not to DA but to their cooperatives,” he said.
Ampatuan also underscored that the machineries are owned by the farmer organizations, not by only few farmer leaders; thus, should benefit all members.
Farmer coops may charge members for the use of these machines where collected fees may be used to purchase more equipment or improve their facilities for milling, drying, storage and other projects that will benefit their members, he added.
Meanwhile, Engr. Miranda said PhilMech has prioritized SOCCSKSARGEN Region for the farm mechanization component of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Program owing to its “substantial contribution to the country’s food security.”
“RCEF mechanization program aims to support Filipino farmers with appropriate production and postharvest technology to attain better production and improve income-generation capacity and to keep up with the global competition,” Miranda said.
Philmech has yet to complete distribution of farm machines for 10 provinces and 78 municipalities and at least 111 farmer cooperatives and associations in the country, Miranda said. (DED-PIA XII)
Source: Philippines Information Agency (pia.gov.ph)
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