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Official Publication of the Philippine Information Agency Bicol Regional Office, in cooperation with the RIAC-REDIRAS - RDC Bicol



Friday, May 27, 2016

P20.7M worth DA subprojects underway for Bicol farmers, fishers

LEGAZPI CITY, May 27 (PIA) – About P20.7 million-worth of microenterprise (ME) sub-projects proposed by 15 groups of farmers and fisher folks from disaster-prone areas in the Bicol region has been approved.

The Department of Agriculture Philippine Rural Development Project’s (DA-PRDP) Regional Project Advisory Board (RPAB) approved and endorsed the proposals after listening to the presentations of the proponents earlier this month in Legazpi City.

According to Adelina A. Losa, PRDP-Bicol enterprise development (I-REAP) component head, ME sub-projects in calamity-stricken areas aim to provide sustainable income generating activities to farmers and fisherfolk in Bicol whose livelihood were affected by typhoons Lando and Nona in 2015.

“These provinces include Catanduanes which was hit by typhoon Lando as well as Albay and Sorsogon which were affected by typhoon Nona. RPCO V requested for the PRDP National Office’s approval to include Camarines Sur and Masbate because of the high damage they also incurred based on the damage report,” Losa said.

Eleven of the ME sub-projects reviewed, approved, and endorsed for PRDP funding by the RPAB were proposed by groups of farmers and fisherfolk from Sorsogon who will engage in native chicken production, gabi and ginger production and marketing, cottage handicraft industry and cassava chips processing as well as organic vegetable and other foodcrop production and seaweed production and marketing. The said MEs are worth P10.6 million.

 “This will slowly elevate the living conditions of fishermen for them to support their family through seaweeds. We hope to further improve it   so as not to waste the trust given to us by the government and the PRDP,” said Samahang Mangingisda ng Tomalaytay president Roberto A. Salgado whose P1.2 million-worth Tomalaytay Seaweeds Production and Marketing ME was among those approved by the RPAB for Sorsogon.

Likewise, about P2.9 million-worth of ME sub-projects proposed by the Municipalities of Esperanza and Milagros in Masbate were endorsed by the RPAB. These ME sub-projects will venture in charcoal briquette production and farm mechanization and briquetting of rice hull into charcoal.

Meanwhile, two MEs worth P2.7 million from Gigmoto and Pandan, Catanduanes were also okayed by the RPAB. The said MEs will take on rice production as well as broiler production and marketing.

Furthermore, the RPAB gave green light to Albay Small Ruminant Raisers Association (ASRRA)’s proposed P1.3 million-worth Enhancing Farm Capacity and Adoption of Nutrition Technology for Goat Production.

RPAB member Jocelyn Lb. Blanco, regional director of the Department of Trade and Industry, urged the proponent groups to work on the sustainability of the approved microenterprises.

“See it as an opportunity for you to progress. Let your group serve as a vehicle for other organizations to avail the same benefits from the government,” she said.

The RPAB also reviewed, approved and endorsed the Seaweeds Nursery and Production Project proposed by the Biga Farmers and Fishermen Association in Magallanes, Sorsogon. The P3.2 million-worth sub-project is the region’s first Global Environment Facility (GEF)-supported ME designed to contribute to biodiversity conservation and strengthen the coastal and marine resources base in targeted project areas.

In Bicol, the Donsol-Ticao-Burias Pass was one of the biodiversity/international waters pre-identified by DA and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) as target GEF sites for PRDP. The Project will integrate the P287-million-worth grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), an international organization that helps address global environmental issues, to its institutional reforms.

The RPAB is an inter-agency multi-disciplinary team composed of DTI, Department of Agrarian Reform, Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Interior and Local Government and Regional Agricultural and Fishery Council mandated to review and approve plans, feasibility studies, detailed engineering designs and program of works proposed for PRDP funding. It is chaired by the Regional Executive Director of the Department of Agriculture.

PRDP is a six-year project being implemented by the DA designed to establish an inclusive, market-oriented and climate-resilient agri-fishery sector. (MAL/SAA-PIA5/Albay)

- See more at: http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/2571464330342/p20-7m-worth-da-subprojects-underway-for-bicol-farmers-fishers#sthash.4IPFc9io.dpuf

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