Buenavista's far flung communities to benefit Peace
Caravan set in December 2
By Nora C. Lanuza Molde
BUTUAN CITY, Nov. 18 (PIA) – Elementary pupils,
secondary students and members of the indigenous families of Barangay Sangay in
Buenavista town, Agusan del Norte will benefit the basic services during the
Peace Caravan scheduled on December 2, 2016.
The 23rd Infantry "Masigasig" Battalion
(23IB), Philippine Army together with different partner agencies will reach out
the far-flung communities in the said town to provide basic services, it was
learned.
According to 23IB community relations officer Capt.
Edwin Leo Francisco, the services to be provided will include free medical,
dental, distribution of medicines and vitamins; distribution of school
supplies, awarding of Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) and
certificate of enrollees of TESDA skills training; distribution of livelihood
kits and free haircut services; information, education and communication (IEC)
campaign on government programs; and other related services.
Partner agencies include the Technical Education
and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR),
Department of Health (DOH), National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP),
and others. (NCLM, PIA-Agusan del Norte)
Surigao Norte hosts regional development plan
consultation
By Susil D. Ragas
SURIGAO CITY, Surigao del Norte, Nov. 18 (PIA) –
The provincial government of Surigao del Norte hosted the Regional Development
Council (RDC) meeting and Surigao City Consultation on the RDC Plan 2017-2022
held on November 15, 2016 at the Provincial Convention Center, this city.
According to Provincial Information Officer Mary
Jul Escalante, the discussion of the council meeting was focused on the
long-term vision of President Rodrigo Duterte dubbed as “Ambisyon Natin 2040,”
through Executive Order No. 5 and the necessity to formulate priority local
government development plans align to the programs of the national government.
“Based on the report of NEDA, the President wants
the first draft of the said development plan to be finished before the end of
the year,” said Escalante.
She further said that the provincial government was
able to present its 2016 to 2019 priority programs focused on education,
health, environment, agriculture and aquaculture, and economy, among others.
“On the part of the city government, they were able
to present their vision and developments anchored on 'With blessings of the
Divine Providence, Surigao in 2025: a model city for good governance, economic
dynamism, and environmental quality,'" Escalante added. (SDR/PIA-Surigao
del Norte)
News Feature: Mechanization ends farmers misery
PROSPERIDAD, Agusan del Sur, Nov. 18 (PIA) – The
province of Agusan del Sur experiences Type 2 Climate or commonly known to
Caraganons as wet and very wet. It has no dry season with a very pronounced wet
season of heavy precipitation where corn farmers vulnerability is high during
harvest.
Francisco Moreno felt sorry recounting the previous
years' losses on his corn produce. "There was a time when the buyer
returned all my corn because it is wet. We can't dry it due to rains that
lasted for days," he said. "Sometimes, since no buyer will take it,
it would just rot in our area," he added.
As president of the Federation of Corn Farmers in
the Municipality of Prosperidad, he knew the plight of the farmers in his
area. Although the town has been a hall
of famer to the Department of Agriculture's (DA's) Outstanding Corn Quality
Awards, drying remains a problem they had to battle every year.
Farmers' losses during wet season would add up to
the money spent for drying on sunny days with only a handful of drying
pavements in the area to cater the needs to dry corn grains.
"I spend around P1,500 each day for six people
to help in drying the corn, which will take 1-2 weeks. For farmers whose areas are far from the
multi-purpose drying pavements, they have to spend additional 30 pesos for each
sack for transportation," said Francisco.
To address the problem, the DA has pushed for farm
mechanization to help the farmers. Together with the local government unit of
Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur, DA funded and turned over a P3.2 Million worth
Corn Vertical Dryer with 12.7 tons or 250 sack per load drying capacity
benefitting four corn cluster barangays of Salvador, New Maug, Azpetia, and Los
Arcos. The usual 1-2 weeks drying time of is now reduced to 5-6 hours saving time
and money for the corn farmers.
According to DA Caraga regional executive director
Renato Manantan, the facility is able to load 30-40 tons per day. Even if it is
raining, farmers can still dry and sell their corn in uniform quality.
"Farmers here will not only save from
post-harvest losses but also improve the quality of their corn grits. They can
now command a better price and increase their income especially if they
continue to consolidate and strengthen the association," said Manantan.
The vertical corn drying facility is expected to
serve more than 800 hectares of corn area in the municipality. With its mobile
feature, the dryer can be transferred to other areas to serve more farmers.
In that rainy day where the facility was turned
over, Francisco Moreno and the rest of the corn farmers in Prosperidad could
only express hope and excitement.
"The past three days my corn grits were wet
with rain but I worry no more. Change has come. Our misery has ended,"
said Francisco. (DA-Agusan del Sur/PIA-Agusan del Sur)
AgNor guv approves P1.4M resettlement site in
Santiago town
By Aimee B. Sienes
BUTUAN CITY, Nov. 18 (PIA) - The provincial
government of Agusan del Norte is all set for the purchase of the 12,072 square
meter lot amounting to P1,400,352 to be utilized as resettlement site for
Barangay Poblacion 1 in the municipality of Santiago, Agusan del Norte.
The Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Agusan del Norte
recently authorized Provincial Governor Ma. Angelica Rosedell M. Amante-Matba,
through Sanggunian Resolution No. 059-2016, authored by Provincial Board Member
Aquino W. Gambe, to sign for and in behalf of the province the Deed of Absolute
Sale by and between the province of Agusan del Norte and Clarita M. Luzon for
the acquisition of the said parcel of land.
The Committee on Human Settlements, Land Use and
Provincial Properties, chaired by Board Member Gambe, in its study, found the
project to be beneficial for the informal settlers in the said barangay for
them to be able to own a lot where their permanent houses will be constructed,
thus, recommended to grant authority to the provincial governor.
This has been a continuous effort of Gov. Angel’s
administration to provide quality social services to the people of Agusan del
Norte. (LGU-Agusan del Norte/PIA-Agusan del Norte)
Agusan del Norte bags quality corn hall of fame
award
By Aimee B. Sienes
BUTUAN CITY, Nov. 18 (PIA) - The provincial
government of Agusan del Norte bagged the quality corn hall of fame award and
received a plaque and cash incentive during the 12th Philippine National Corn
Congress in conjunction with 4th National Quality Corn Achievers Awards in
Koronadal City, South Cotabato held on November 16-18, 2016.
Provincial Governor Ma. Angelica Rosedell M.
Amante-Matba personally received the said award and cash incentive of
P5,000,000, together with Vice Governor Ramon AG. Bungabong, Provincial Board
Members Elizabeth Marie R. Calo, Dick Victor B. Carmona, Lucia E. Jundis,
Virgilio R. EscasiΓ±as, Jr. and Benjamin D. Lim.
Agusan del Norte Provincial Agriculturist Alvin P.
Aclan also received his award as Outstanding Provincial Agriculturist and Oscar
S. Tuyor as Hall of Famer Outstanding Provincial Corn Coordinator during the
said congress and awarding. (LGU-Agusan del Norte/PIA-Agusan del Norte)
News Feature: Empowered farmers: Key to a
sustainable vegetable industry
By Vanessa Pontillo
BUTUAN CITY, Nov. 18 (PIA) - Empowering the farmers
with adequate knowledge, appropriate technologies and ample support will lead
to a sustainable vegetable industry in the region.
Presently, there is high demand but low supply of
vegetables in the region. Data from the Philippine Statistics (PSA) show that
Caraga has a total of 4,900 hectares planted with vegetables.
During the crafting of the roadmap for vegetables,
the Department of Agriculture (DA) Caraga High-Value Crops Program Coordinator
Marco Antonio Morido said there is a need to increase production areas and this
has been supported by the DA through seed distribution which aims to lower
production cost of farmers as well as provide them access to quality seeds.
Agusan del Norte Vegetable Growers Association
President Dominador Buenafe said that the vegetable industry of the region can
be more competitive if local producers are given the needed assistance,
especially in financing and marketing.
Upon discussion, it was noted that vegetables from
Caraga are expensive mainly because of the high cost of inputs. Some crops
particularly the highland vegetables are not suitable for the Caraga climate.
Because of the low supply, vegetable growers of
Caraga have weak market linkages since they often cannot meet the required
volume of buyers. “The farm clustering approach is ideal for the region in
order for small scale farmers to meet the demands of the market thus we are
promoting this to our vegetable growers here,” Morido also said.
The farm clustering approach is done by merging
several smallholder farms committed to establishing a market-linked
agro-enterprise within a defined territory.
This is a way to increase the productivity of the cluster thus making
them more competitive.
Currently, the bulk of vegetables produced locally,
apart from those marketed within the region, are sold to Cebu and Leyte.
DA-Caraga conducted the crafting of a roadmap to
obtain the inputs of the stakeholders on the issues affecting the industry and
how to steer it to the right direction. The activity was held on November 11 in
San Francisco, Agusan del Sur and was participated by farmers, Local Government
Units, and DA attached agencies.
Elene Espina, a vegetable grower from San
Francisco, Agusan del Sur said that with the developments to come, she looks
forward to the day that they will no longer be ordinary farmers but rather
farmer-entrepreneurs who are able to stand on their own. (DA-Caraga/PIA-Caraga)
