PRDP InFocus sa Caraga (January - March 2017)

PRDP Team In Action

www.daprdp.net

REGULAR MEETING AND MONITORING ACTIVITIES. Together with the technical staff from the National and Mindanao Support Offices and the provincial and municipal counterparts, the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) - Regional Project Coordination Office (RPCO) in the region conducts meeting and validation activities in the subproject sites and come up with recommendations based on science-based tools.

A SA CARAG THE OFFICIAL QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER OF PHILIPPINE RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECT REGIONAL PROJECT COORDINATION OFFICE - CARAGA

VOL. 2 ISSUE. 3 January - March 2017

Improved Irrigation Betters Production

by Fretcher Magatao

Monitoring activities for the construction of 1.27km Guiso FMR at Brgy. Guiso, Surigao City

InfoACE documentation activities at Brgy. Batucan, Talacogon, Agusan del Sur

I-PLAN Component meeting with provincial counterparts

Social and Environmental Safeguards (SES) monitoring and validation activities in Brgy.

Balesaya, Gigaquit, Surigao del Norte

Infrastructure Development (I-BUILD) Component technical staff together with the project engineer and barangay implementing team (BIT) visits the project site for a regular monitoring ativity

Editorial Board

Provincial InfoACE Focal Persons

Emmylou T. Presilda Editor-in-Chief

Nelsa O. Auron Butuan City

Fretcher D. Magatao Writer and Layout Artist Wilfredo C. Abrea Photographer/Videographer

Edgar M. Palarca, Jr. Agusan del Norte Armando R. Gomez Agusan del Sur

Advisers

Maryjul E. Escalante Surigao del Norte

Jodel A. Tabada OIC, Deputy Project Director

Marjorie V. Pagaran Surigao del Sur

Abel James I. Monteagudo Project Director

Santila Brigida R. Apelo Province of Dinagat Islands

GA sa CARA

is a quarterly newsletter of the Department of Agriculture (DA) - Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) - Regional Project Coordination Office - CARAGA. For comments, suggestions and article contributions Email us at: da13caragainfo@gmail.com Visit us at: www.daprdp.net Facebook: www.facebook.com/darfo13

Ground breaking activity of the PRDP’s Communal Irrigation System that would irrigate 100 hectares of mostly rice areas in Barangay Culit, Nasipit, Agusan del Norte. (Photo by Fretcher Magatao)

To increase farmers’ productivity and to irrigate more agricultural lands, the Department of Agriculture – Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) officially launched the start of the rehabilitation of the P39.9 million Communal Irrigation System (CIS) at Barangay Culit Nasipit, Agusan del Norte.

The new CIS would cover an influence area of at least 100 hectares mostly planted with rice benefiting more than a hundred farmers in the community. “We not only desire for rice

sufficiency, but also a rich supply of agricultural products for our people and neighboring municipalities,” said Mayor Enrico Corvera.

Corvera said that the farmers in the community have been waiting for the rehabilitation of the irrigation system since their goal is to achieve at least three croppings in a year. “As an agricultural engineer, I believe that irrigation is the solution for better production,” Corvera said.

Culit Irrigators Association (CIA) has been wanting for an irrigation system that would stand through the

many destructions caused by natural calamities since the existing CIS has been damaged due to heavy rains and floods.

“Because of the many calamities we’ve experienced, the passage of water through the river can no longer be controlled and only less than 30 hectares of planted areas can be irrigated,” said CIA President Pausto Empanado, Jr. “We need a rebuilding that would prevail against disasters and we’re glad that PRDP is helping us for this rehabilitation,” he added.

cont’d on page 3 >>

Caraga’s Abaca Industry On The Rise

by Fretcher Magatao

Abaca fiber in the region particularly in the province of Agusan del Norte will soon be saturating the local and foreign market as the Department of Agriculture–Caraga recently ignited the ground breaking ceremony for the establishment of a P15 Million abaca fiber warehouse with drying area at Santiago, Agusan del Norte.

The establishment of additional bigger warehouse would answer the cooperative’s immediate need of an extra space for storage since its two storage warehouses are easily filled with stocks of baled fiber.

The San Isidro Upland Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative (SIUFMULCO) gained funding support from the DA’s Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) for its abaca fiber production and trading enhancement project with a total approved project cost of P31 million, P16 million of which is for the enterprise development component.

“Our membership has increased in the cluster areas since we started working for the realization of this project. Surely, many abaca farmers can benefit with this project,” said Leonora Mila, General Manager of SIUFMULCO.

SIUFMULCO has five clusters in selected municipalities all over Agusan del Norte with a total membership of at least 600 abaca farmers. These clusters are operating in the municipalities of

“Our membership has increased in the cluster areas since we started working for the realization of this project. Surely, many abaca farmers can benefit with this project.” __________________________________ Leonora Mila SIUFMULCO General Manager Santiago, Nasipit, RTR, Kitcharao and Cabadbaran City.

Farmers in the areas often encounter challenges with drying and stripping since the weather is unpredictable and the machine they have is old. All these concerns will be met because of the interventions provided by the Project.

Planting materials, organic fertilizer, nursery and stripping machines will be equally distributed to the cluster areas as part of the provision of the project package.

“With this project, farmers will be more inspired and more idle lands will be planted with abaca,” Mila added.

Post-harvest facilities such as

baling machine, forklift, wood pallets and push carts to enhance production of quality fiber were also included in the package. Two hauling trucks, moisture meter and weighing scales will also support to efficient marketing and trading.

The said facility will then serve as the standard grading and baling center accredited by the Philippine Fiber Development Authority (PhilFIDA). With this, SIUFMULCO is expecting more abaca traders coming from other provinces in Caraga including neighboring regions from Davao and Northern Mindanao.

Preconstruction Conference with FMR Beneficiaries The PRDP Infra Component in the region orients the officials of LGU Malimono and the barangay officials of the community through a preconstruction conference for the concreting/rehabilitation of 6.5km Jubgan-Binocaran farm-to-market road. The activty serves as a venue to inform the local officials and residents of the roles they need to perform for the implementation and sustainability of the project.

2 | PRDP In Focus - CARAGA

Partner Agencies Ink Commitment to PRDP’s

by Fretcher Magatao

Ceremonial MOA signing activity participated by the regional head of agencies and the PLGU of Agusan del Norte to mainstream the support for the development of abaca industry in the province.

DA’s Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) in Caraga together with partner agencies recently converged through a ceremonial signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for the harmonization of support for the abaca industry in the Province of Agusan del Norte.

The activity aims to mainstream the support from partner agencies in helping Agusan del Norte in the implementation of its Provincial Commodity Investment Plan (PCIP) and support the industry value chain in the province.

Local executives seized the challenge of taking the lead in institutionalizing government agencies’ support in implementing the PCIP. “We cannot do everything alone. We need the assistance of government agencies in achieving what we have determined in the PCIP,” said Governor Maria Angelica Amante-Matba.

Amante-Matba clarifies that the province needs synergistic partnership with the concerned agencies and other stakeholders in addressing gaps and constraints for the development of not just abaca, but also other priority

commodities. “Now that we have signified our commitment to the province, I am assured that all we have envisioned can be accomplished accordingly,” Amante-Matba said.

PRDP’s introduction of innovative tools such as the applied geotagging technology, the value chain analysis (VCA) and the vulnerability and suitability assessment (E-VSA) in crafting the PCIP would help other agencies in identifying specific interventions for the development of a particular commodity.

“In PRDP, we do not want to leave our farmers and industry players hanging anywhere in any of the segments of the value chain. We want to elevate them to higher grounds, thereby boosting their chances to improve their lot,” said Mindanao Project Support Office I-PLAN Component Head Cerenio Tila.

The signing was participated by the regional head of agencies from the Department of Agriculture, Philippine Fiber Development Authority, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Agrarian Reform, Department of Science and Technology, Caraga State University and the Province of Agusan del Norte.

>> Improved Irrigation Betters Production

PRDP I-BUILD known as Intensified Build Up of Infrastructre and Logistics for Developement aims to put in place climate resilient farm-to-market roads (FMR), bridges, communal irrigation and potable water systems.

CIS rehabilitation project in the municipality would extend the length of the dam’s ogee (arch) and increase the height of the protection dike which after the construction would irrigate more than a triple times of hectares compared to the existing one.

The Project has partnered with LGUs and the private sector in providing key infrastructures, facilities, technology and information that will raise income, productivity and competitiveness among the players in agriculture.

The ground breaking activity was spearheaded by the DA-PRDP representatives together with the officials of Barangay Culit and LGU Nasipit.

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