AGUSAN DEL SUR -- In its quest to
modernize agriculture, the Department of Agriculture (DA) Caraga continuously
implemented the farm mechanization program.
On July 7-8, 2021, DA-Caraga Regional
Corn Program turned-over two units of four-wheel drive farm tractors amounting
to P2.45 million each corn farmers association in the provinces of Agusan del
Sur and Surigao del Sur.
The recipient of the said tractors was
Sta. Irene Sta. Irene Integrated Farmers Association (SIIFARMAS) of Brgy. Sta.
Irene in the town of Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur, and MALCATRIVO Corn Farmers
Association of Brgy. OsmeΓ±a, Tagbina, Surigao del Sur.
“The said interventions were based on
the needs of the farmers as stipulated on their cluster development plan to
make corn farming more productive and help attain economies of scale,” said
Melody Guimary, Field Operations Division Chief of DA-Caraga.
Ruben Lacasaca, chairperson of the
MALCATRIVO said that the equipment they received is a blessing for them, who
dream of it for quite some time. “Once this is a dream but now comes
to reality, we need farm tractor to fast track land preparation,” he shared.
He added that farm tractor is a big
saving for them since a hectare of field using the traditional carabao would
take one week to plow but with the tractor, it would take only at most of 2
hours.
The rent for a carabao and a man would
costs around P700.00 a day or a total of P4,900.00 for a week job while on the
tractor the payment is only P2,300.00 and it can be done in just two
hours.
“With this farm tractor, our members
would be encouraged more to cultivate their land since it is a big sigh of
relief from land preparation expenses and more free days to attend to other
important matters,” Antonio Martil, Jr., chairperson of SIIFARMAS said.
Earlier, the same equipment had also
been distributed to Trento, Agusan del Sur through its recipient Trento
Poblacion Corn Farmers Association.
Regional Technical Director Rebecca
Reyes Atega explained that nowadays giving of interventions, not only farm
tractor but to include other needs of the farmers is now focused on clusters in
line with the Farm and Fisheries Clustering and Consolidation (F2C2) Program or
the Bayanihan Agri Clusters (BACs) of the agriculture department.
“Through clustering, a group of farmers has been organized to maximize the resources of the government and in the process harnessing their potential to be agripreneurs,” Atega stressed Regional Executive Director Abel James I. Monteagudo of DA-Caraga said that Bayanihan Agri Clusters (BACs) is one of the 18 key strategies under the One DA Reform Agenda of Secretary William D. Dar. (Aurelius P. Arais/DA-Caraga/PIA-Agusan del Sur)
