DA, DBP encourage Tarlac City farmers to form, join cooperatives
TARLAC CITY -- The De partment of Agriculture (DA) and Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) encouraged farmers in Tarlac City to form or join cooperat i ves.
In his visit at the Citicore Agrosolar Plant, DA Secretary William Dar highlighted the advantages of being a member of a cooperative.
"A cooperative gives power to you farmers, it helps you stand on your own which makes you strong not only in production but more importantly in the market," the official underscored.
The extension services of the government such as machinery distribution, shared service facilities construction and others are easily cascaded to cooperatives.
"We want to have cluster farming through cooperatives because individual farming can no longer exist in a longterm manner,”Dar said.
Dar likewise encouraged Mayor Cristy Angeles to form a cooperative for the whole city to avail of a large amount of credit that will improve the production and distribution of farmers' crops.
In response, Angeles guaranteed the city government's efforts in this venture.
"We have close to 28,000 hectares of agricultural land and we have about 7,466 farmers in the city so rest assured we will tie up with you and DBP to help our farmers," she answ er ed.
For his part, DBP
President Emmanuel Herbosa seconded Dar's vision in helping farmers improve their livelihood.
"Our main driving force in DBP is to give hope that's why we partnered very closely with DA to provide financially to our farmers," he said.
Moreover, Dar lauded the Agrosolar Plant conceptualized by Citicore to use renewable energy in agriculture.
"Congratulations Citicore for having this project which will also help our farmers and the community around it because 50 percent of the proceeds go to them," he said.
Agrosolar is a new farming technology aimed at reducing agricultural production cost using renewable energy.