Region 2 localizes FMR network
THE Department of Agriculture (DA) Region 2 (Cagayan Valley) office is stepping up the localization of the National Farm-to-Market Road Network Plan (NFMRNP) for 2023-2028.
Rose Mary Aquino, DARegion 2 officer in charge executive director, said they gathered the municipal governments in Cagayan, Batanes and Nueva Vizcaya for a workshop to plot and input farmto-market road (FMR) proposals in the GeoAgri System.
Aquino said the workshop from February 20-22 in Tuguegarao is in collaboration with the DA-Bureau of Agricultural and Fisheries Engineering (BAFE) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
Attending the three-day workshop are municipal agriculturists, municipal engineers, and planning and development coordinators.
Giving the overview of this three-day activity, DABAFE Director Ariodear Rico expounded on the direction and other courses of action, and that a plan is needed as a guidepost in the implementation of FMRs.
Other agencies joining the workshop are those critical in FMR implementation such as the Departments of Public Works and Highways, Trade and Industry, Tourism and Agrarian Reform.
Aquino said roads from the production area leading to trade and market posts are the blood veins of agriculture.
“Farm-to-market roads connect agricultural and fisheries areas to markets, allowing producers to transport their goods to traders and consumers with relative ease,” Aquino said, adding that these roads help the farmers and fisherfolk gain better prices and broader reach for their products.
In an earlier workshop on February 13-15 for the provinces of Isabela and Quirino, Aquino reported a 93.29-percent overall completion of the targeted 4.54 kilometers of FMR as of 2023 with over P1.03 billion approved amount for 80 projects, all in Region 2.
She noted that for Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino, the accomplishment is 100 percent; 98.99 percent nearing completion for Isabela; 93.75 percent for Cagayan; and 73.72 percent for Batanes.
“In tandem with the Department of Public Works and Highways and the initiatives of our representatives in Congress, we will continue to implement FMR projects. We believe that if we have good roads that link farmers to markets, this will redound to productivity and food security,” Aquino said.
For the whole country, Aquino said that after only one-and-a-half years in office, the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has already completed 51 percent of the target 131,410.66 kilometers of the government’s FMR Network Program.
She said the program will serve 14 million hectares of the country’s production areas for agriculture and fisheries within six years.
Aquino said the government has already built 67,328.92 kilometers of FMRs, which is the equivalent of 32 road trips from Aparri to Jolo.
“All steps now on where we stand leads to the localization of the NFMRNP that stretches up to the year 2028. On how it should be done will be reflected in the GeoAgri System, which will now be the bedrock of implementation,” Aquino said.
LEANDER C. DOMINGO