29 tractors given to Bukidnon farmers
THE DEPARTMENT of Agriculture – Philippine Rural Development Project 10 (DA-PRDP 10) together with the Provincial Local Government Unit of Bukidnon (PLGUBukidnon) officially turned-over the 29 Farm Mechanization Support to its respective Farmers Associations and Cooperatives in Bukidnon.
This subproject, under the Investments in Rural Enterprise and Agriculture and Fisheries Productivity (IREAP) component of PRDP, aims to improve the farm productivity of the beneficiaries through ma-
chinery support and increase farmer’s income.
With a total cost of Php 1,257,905.33 per unit, this include 35 horsepower manual-operated tractor with disc plow, trailer, and heavy duty low torque pneumatic wheels that will greatly benefit rice farmers.
Among the 29 beneficiaries, 19 are from Valencia City, 3 from Malaybalay City, 2 from Kalilangan and Quezon, and 1 from Maramag, Cabanglasan and Lantapan respectively.
In his message, Bukidnon Governor Jose Ma. R. Zubiri emphasized that farmer associations who received the said machineries should be responsible enough to take care of it as the whole process of acquiring the machineries was not easy. He also added that this is a blessing for them as this will lighten their farm labor.
On the other hand, representing DA-10 OIC-Regional Executive Director and PRDP-10 Project Head Carlene C. Collado, CPA, Chedy V. Ansale, Chief of Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division of
DA-10 and Enterprise Development and Management Specialist of PRDP-10, said that PRDP-10 and PLGU Bukidnon staff shed sweat and tears from project proposal preparation until the project was materialized. “We spent sleepless nights to comply the needed requirements for the approval of the proposal. The turn-over today is a fruit of our labor and I would like to thank everyone for the support extended to the team. We are one in our noble objective of helping the marginalized farmers alleviate their
lives” Ansale said. These assistance were distributed to IREAP proponent group who suffered from crop damage during the long dry spell and El Niño phenomenon in 2015 and 2016 respectively which placed the province of Bukidnon under the state of calamity.
Meanwhile, an additional 21 farm tractors with implements were also given by the PLGU Bukidnon to non-PRDP beneficiaries and associations, totaling to 50 tractors with implements were given on that day.