The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) provincial offices in the Cagayan Valley region (Region 2) have procured and distributed Php17.6 million worth of farm machinery and equipment (FME) consisting of tractors, combine harvesters, delivery trucks, etc., to nine (9) agrarian reform beneficiaries' organizations (ARBOs) in the different provinces in the region.The FME would help farmers modernize their operations and increase their yield resulting to increase in income.
According to DAR region 2 Regional Director Primo C. Lara, the farm machineries and equipment for distribution to selected agrarian reform beneficiaries' organizations is being implemented under the Sustainable and Resilient Agrarian Reform Communities Project (SuRe ARCs), a DAR program for farm machines aimed to improve farm productivity and increase thehousehold income of ARBs through the ARBOs where they are a member.
The turnover of the farm equipment was graced by the presence of Atty. Kazel Celeste, DAR Undersecretary for Field Operations (FOO) and Atty. Marjorie P. Ayson, DAR Assistant Secretary, FOO. The FME was distributed to the following ARBOs: Sunrise Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Garita Farmers Agriculture Cooperative, the Farmers of Luna Agriculture Cooperative, Villaverde Development Cooperative, Brgy. Paitan Farmers Irrigators Association, Inc., San Salvador ARB Association, Luttuad ARB Farmers Association, San Francisco ARB Farmers Association, Maui Farmers' Cooperative, Dicamay Farmers Agri Cooperative, Greenfield Cabatuan Agriculture Cooperative, Nam-Ay Farmers Association, Western Aurora Agri Cooperative, Upper Forest Region Agrarian Reform Cooperative, Reform Farm Workers Association, Sinili Vegetable Growers Cooperative, and Rotary Community Corps of Cauayan City Producers Cooperative.
The SuRe ARCs is a program of the Department of Agrarian Reform that aims to support the agricultural sector and enhance food security. In addition to farm mechanization, the project is also establishing enterprise-based crop nurseries with greenhouse facilities and tissue culture laboratories in agrarian reform beneficiary organizations, state universities and colleges, and local government units within Agrarian Reform Communities (ARCs).
Turnover of farm machinery and equipment under DAR Project SuRe ARCs.
DAR Usec Atty Kazel C. Celeste (left) and DAR Asec Atty Marjorie P. Ayson.
Delivery truck for hauling of ARB agri products.
Combine harvesters and tractors.
Four-wheeled tractors for ARB coops.
DARPO Cagayan-Batanes PARPO II Val M. Cristobal and staff.
Sunrise MPC officers and members - recipients of delivery truck.
Quezon City, Philippines,
September 17, 2022 - The insurance protection plan is contained in the joint
program called the “Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries-Agricultural Insurance
Program (ARB-AIP).” The ARB-AIP will benefit over 224,000 ARBs or members of
their households who are actually cultivating around 330,000 hectares of land
and engaged in raising some 30,700 farm animals, who are eligible for insurance
premium subsidy.
From these ARBs, there are
estimated 99,580 rice farmers tilling 178,801 hectares;37,772 corn farmers cultivating around 72,506
hectares; and about 85,760 commercial crop farmers cultivating around 78,633
hectares. Nine hundred twenty four (924) farmers raise 30,742 animals.
Each eligible ARB shall have
access to protection cover up to three hectares (maximum award per CARP
beneficiary) and up to three types of insurance coverage only which is good for
two cropping seasons.
The insurance protection plan is
the first such collaboration between two of the country’s main rural
development agencies and the biggest group plan ever issued by the DA-PCIC. It
aims to provide the ARBs a safety net against fortuitous events caused by
climate change, also crop pests and diseases.
DAR will put up the premium
subsidy worth P1B from the DAR-GPS for Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries. Of the
amount, P533.78M will be allocated for rice farmers, P385.82, corn farmers,
P79.09M for high value crop farmers, P1.31M for livestock. The premium cost for
the individual farmer’s life and limb coverage amounting to P5.43M would come
from interest income of the DAR-Government Premium Subsidy (DAR-GPS) Fund.
For its part, DA-PCIC will
provide the insurance cover worth some P17.07B from which some P4.94B will be
reserved for rice, P2B for corn, P2.35B for commercial crops, P13M for
livestock, and some P7.77B for the individual farmer’s life and limb.
In cases where the insured risks
happens, the DA-PCIC will pay out damage claims from these beneficiaries within
20 days, less than the 60-day reglementary period. This is made possible by the
ISO-certified systems and processes established by the DA-PCIC.
Depending on the extent of damage
and the cost of farm investment, the farmers may receive payments for damages
worth P39,000 to P52,000 per hectare for inbred and hybrid rice,
respectively;P28,000 and P40,000 for
every hectare of open-pollinated and hybrid corn, respectively;andup
to P50,000 for life and limb. These are various indemnity figures for
commercial crops and animals as there are many types of crops and animals
involved.
Support to Parcelization of Lands to Individual Title (SPLIT), is a project that seeks to give farmer-beneficiaries covered under collective Certificates of Land Ownership Awards (cCLOA), the opportunity to have and own individual titles as evidence of ownership to the farmlot/s awarded to them under the agrarian reform program.
The recently
approved Department of Agrarian Reform-World Bank (DAR-WB) SPLIT project is a loan
package amounting to Php24 Billion which shall be used to subdivide the cCLOAs - about
1.38 million hectares, into individual land titles so that the agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) may fully exercise their rights of ownership and possession over their
landholding/s.
The issuance of CCLOAs has repercussion to the government as it could not collect taxes and amortization. The same can be said to many beneficiaries who are not engaged in collective farming. All these issues can be cured once these cCLOAs are split into individual titles, he said.
The project SPLIT also includes the acquisition for the DAR Provincial offices involved, of survey and other related equipment for the subdivision of each farm lot, four-wheel drive vehicles and motorcycles for the mobilization of DAR survey teams, including hiring of additional manpower. It also requires capability trainings due to advances in technology, such as on the use of new software/computer programs like the AutoCAD Google Earth (AGE) Mapping which is useful for the subdivision of individual land titles as it requires computing technical descriptions, conversion of coordinates, transporting KMZ files (used by Google Earth) to Andriod phones among others.
The DAR-WB
SPLIT project is in response to President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s order to the
Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to conduct the survey and
re-documentation of collective land titles to individual certificates of
landownership awards (CLOAs). President Rodrigo R. Duterte requested the assistance of the World Bank in order to expedite the process of subdividing the lands covered by collective agrarian reform land titles.
The municipality of Enrile in Cagayan province is on
the frequent path of typhoons. It is often visited by other disasters such as flood, man-made and other natural calamities. According to the climate projection of the Philippine Atmospheric,
Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), unfavourable
changes in climate conditions will be expected in 2006-2035 for the southern
part of Cagayan where Enrile is located. Such changes may have direct or
indirect effect on the farming activities of the ROBA Agrarian Reform Community
(ROBA ARC) farmers. Temperature in the area is projected to increase at an
average of 0.9 degree Celsius in 2006-2035 (2020). Temperature will be highest
in months of June-August. PAGASA also projects significant increase in rainfall
by 16.3% in months of September-November when the season of corn planting
starts, which is an alarming increase in all aspects of climate events. ROBA ARC is also
threatened by the projected tripling in the number of days with rainfall above
200 mm. Heavy rainfall is identified as the primary cause of soil erosion in
the area. Eroded farms may eventually result to loss of livelihood of the
farmers.
Enrile town in Cagayan province is easily flooded during typhoon season and wrecks havoc on farms along Cagayan River. Photo: LGU-Cagayan
Roma Sur Multi-Purpose Cooperative (Roma Sur MPC)
is the lead agrarian reform beneficiaries’ organization (ARBO) within the ROBA ARC
located in the municipality of Enrile, Cagayan which embraces barangays Roma
Sur, Roma Norte and Batu (with Liwan Norte and San Antonio as expansion
barangays).
To counter the devastating effects of climate
change in their community, members of Roma Sur MPC was able to access a total
of P716,230 (P650,000 from DAR; P20,000 from LGU and P40,230 as its
counterpart) for funding a project entitled: The Promotion of Climate Change
Adaptive Measures to Counter Adverse Effects in ROBA ARC (Planting of Bamboo
Along Contours and Riverbanks with Climate Change Adaptation Capability Training).
The project was duly approved under DAR’s Climate Resilient Farm Productivity Support
(CRFPS) services.
Roma Sur MPC in ROBA ARC was able to acquire funds from DAR-CRFPS for a Bamboo Plantation project. (Photo by: Lau Miguel)
The project provides environmental protection through the planting of
bamboo along the contours and riverbanks which primarily addresses the concern
on the rapid erosion and disappearance of farmlands near the Cagayan
River.This component is being pursued
in close partnership with the LGU and the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources (DENR).It also involves the establishment of a five thousand square-meter Bamboo
Nursery for the propagation of propagules locally known as Kawayan Tinik and
Bayog after which they are planted into a five-hectare plantation both managed
by the ARBO. The five-hectare bamboo
plantation will be the source for the of the member’s income generating project.
Bamboo seedlings for the Nursery. (Photo by: Lau Miguel)
The remaining propagules will be sold at reasonable price so as to
generate income and portion of the money raised will be used again for the next
cycle of the bamboo propagule-growing to cater to the additional demands on
bamboo seedlings. This is a cost recovery and an income generating project. Net
proceeds will be capitalized on the next batch of bamboo production making the
project self-liquidating and sustainable.
The bamboo harvested from the project will become a
sustainable source of raw materials for the bamboo craft industry of the ARB
organization and for other bamboo requirements of third parties such as construction
scaffolding, bahay-kubo builders, bamboo furniture, etc. As part of their
community involvement and contribution to the overall development goal of the
Municipality, the cooperative will provide a portion of seedlings to the LGU as
their counterpart to the Greening Program of the municipality.
The member of the ARBO were also provided with capability
training on Climate Change Adaptation and Bamboo Farming. Climate change is a
phenomenon that needs to be fully understood by everyone. The series of events that led to drastic
changes in weather patterns, which now threatens the lives, livelihood and
practically the very existence of this civilization, is not singlehandedly
accounted to an act, a group or an individual for that matter.
Climate change is an effect of the collaborative
actions, and sometimes inaction, of a generation so much bent on consumerism –
the resultant culture of industrialization.
To counter its impact and reverse its consequences, whenever possible,
its origins, nature, effects and countermeasures were studied and explained.
Incorporating further in the capability building were
skills training on bamboo farming to strengthen the capacity of ARBs to handle
and manage the project effectively. The farmers, their organizations,
households and their entire community were encouraged to learn adaptive
measures and put into practice eco-friendly technologies in their day-to-day
activities. Machineries and equipment were provided as part of
the mechanization aspect for easier and timely production and postharvest
operations.It reduces drudgery of field
work and lowers production costs. These machineries and equipment would be very
essential in the production activities of the project i.e. hauling of seedlings
from nursery to plantation, plantation site (harvested bamboo poles) to
production and manufacturing center of furniture and handicrafts (ARBO’s
existing enterprise), it will also function as service vehicle of the ARBO for
the delivery of pre-ordered furniture and seedlings trading.Aside from these inevitable uses, said
machineries can also be utilize in other farm activities of farmer-members.
Suggested machineries can be an income generating equipment itself through
custom hiring. The ARBO could maximize the utilization of the equipment and
have an extra earnings since custom hiring is a growing industry now a days
because of the emerging trend in farm mechanization.
Farm machineries for the Bamboo Plantation project were also provided.
The Roma Sur MPC has long acknowledged the
potential of bamboo furniture as an income source. For several years, members of this
cooperative in ROBA ARC have augmented their farm income from the sale of sala
sets, chairs, tables, beds and lampshades made of bamboo. However, the production of good quality
furniture is hampered by the lack of technology and the insufficient supply of
bamboo to the ARC. Bamboo farming and bamboo processing are well suited to the
twin concerns of livelihood enhancement and environmental protection – the key
components for developing third world countries today. The production of these
products can be organized and formed as industries that provide material
benefits and livelihood development to the people.
Climate impacts do not affect all communities
equally. The region's most vulnerable areas, including low-income communities,
often bear a disproportionate burden of climate impacts. Geography also
determines a community's exposure to climate effects. For instance, communities
have greater exposure to flooding based on their underlying natural landscapes,
infrastructure capacities, and impervious surface coverage. To successfully build
climate resilience, the region must address the complex intersections of these
built, natural, and social systems.
The municipality of Enrile in Cagayan province is one of
the most vulnerable areas, being located among the low-income communities. It
often endures a disproportionate burden of climate impacts. It has a greater
exposure to flooding due to typhoons and heavy rains which always challenges
its move towards attaining a sustainable agro-industrial growth. To
successfully build climate resilience, the community must address the compound
intersections of natural and social systems affecting its existence. One of
these measures is the Bamboo plantation in the ROBA Agrarian Reform Community. /with Marvi Trinidad-Bulan
The World Food Programme (WFP) is the food-assistance branch of the
United Nations and the world's leading
humanitarian organization fighting hunger worldwide, delivering food assistance
not only in emergencies but also working with communities to improve nutrition
and build resilience.
Climate change has brought hunger and poverty .
The WFP also offers technical assistance and capacity
strengthening for appropriate sustainable food security and nutrition solutions
which include enhancing capacity for emergency preparedness and response,
logistics, and supply chain management; strengthening risk reduction
capabilities through social safety nets; and bolstering climate risk management,
adaptation and resilience including matter on nutrition.
The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), on the
other hand is mandated among other tasks, to uplift living standards of rural
landless by allocating land rights to and through provision of complementary
support for agrarian reform beneficiaries especially in agrarian reform
communities (ARCs).
Pursuant thereto, the Department of Agrarian Reform
(DAR) and the World Food Programme (WFP) recently forged an agreement to
develop and implement programs towards land tenure improvement and increasing
agricultural productivity, promote social protection and climate resilience in
agrarian reform communities (ARCs).
The primary tasks under this partnership is to
publish an atlas that would be used as essential reference materials for
strategic planning and policy formulation for land tenure improvement and
support services, food security and social protection programs and projects. This
initially involves gathering data, monitoring and assessing information for the
book that would be called The Philippine Food and Nutrition Security Atlas. The
monitoring system will use indicators on food security, poverty reduction and
capacity building on data collection, processing and reporting.
As agreed upon by both parties, the DAR and the WFP
shall work together in providing inputs to the joint publication of the
Philippine Food and Nutrition Security Atlas. They shall likewise work together
in overseeing and supervising activities on programs and projects on disaster
preparedness and climate resilience measures. The partnership will be in effect
until 2020.
In a recently conducted DAR-WFP orientation-workshop
pertaining thereto, it was informed that there are in fact ARCs where
farmer-beneficiaries are experiencing food insecurity while in some areas,
cases of stunting and various forms of malnutrition exists among members of the
farmer-households. The tasks of
addressing these concerns is within the ambit of the DAR-WFP partnership, in
addition to ensuring food security in all agrarian reform communities and
agrarian reform areas.
The right to food of all Filipinos has yet to be
fully realized owing to: a lack of a national right to food strategy/framework;
conflicting laws and policies especially on land use and trade liberalization, etc. -Focus on the Global South (NGO)
The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR)
Provincial Office of Cagayan-Batanes kick started the year with a joint Provincial
Agrarian Reform Coordinating Committee (PARCCOM) and Provincial CARP
Implementing Team (PCIT) meeting on January 26, 2018 in Tuguegarao City,
Cagayan wherein the representatives of the member-agencies presented their agency
thrusts in so far as CARP implementation is concerned.
TheNational Irrigation Adminstration (NIA) reported on current irrigation projects in Cagayan and on the P2.696-billion Chico River Pump Irrigation Project, an
electric motor pump driven irrigation which will service 8,700 hectares of
agricultural land benefitting 4,350 farmers in 21 barangays in Cagayan, Kalinga
and Apayao. The project is expected to provide an incremental net income of up
to P42,273 per hectare a year from the farmers’ previous P28, 952 per hectare
annual income without the irrigation. It will be able to provide around 7,580
jobs during the implementation period and around 8,700 people will have
permanent jobs when completed and becomes operation in three years. The
Department of Science and Technology (DOST) introduced new technologies on fertilizer
production made from carrageenan, a substance extracted from red and purple
seaweeds abundant along the coastal town in Cagayan province, consisting of a
mixture of polysaccharides. It is traditionally used as a thickening or emulsifying
agent in food products. Carrageenan as a growth enhancer offers an array of
benefits that result in improved productivity. When used properly, it makes the
rice stem stronger improving rice resistance to logging. It becomes resistant to
rice ‘tungro’ virus and bacterial leaf blight resulting to increased harvest by
farmers. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) also presented the
various ongoing activities for promotion and marketing of agrarian reform
beneficiaries’ products the Shared Service Faciities (SSF) being distributed to qualified farmers' organizations. The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Register of Deeds (ROD) also
reported on their activities for the acquisition and distribution of lands
covered by CARP, among many others. One highlight of the meeting is the joint
efforts of the member-agencies which resulted to the resolution of specific legal
and factual issues facilitating the acquisition of the hundreds of hectares of
farmlands located in the Solana-Piat boundary. Other equally important issues and
concerns on CARP implementation were likewise resolved during the meeting. Representatives from KilusangPagbabago, namely, Mr. Nathaniel Gumangan, Public Relations Officer, KP-Cagayan Valley and Mr. Napoleon Baltazar, Program Director, KP-Cagayan Valley also briefly discussed Malacanang Executive Order No. 9, Series of 2016
regarding the mandate to promote Participatory Governance as a way of
empowering the agrarian reform beneficiaries and other farmers among others. In addition, the role of the Kilusang Pagbabago in monitoring government programs and projects was also emphasized.
The Joint PARCCOM-PCIT is pursuant
to the provisions of Executive Order No. 406 that mandates certain departments
and agencies to review, evaluate and align their programs and projects in order
to integrate them into the major thrusts of the CARP. EO No. 406 also directs the DAR to accelerate
the agrarian reform beneficiaries' development through the provision of
economic and social infrastructure support.
Section 44 and Section 45 of RA
6657 mandated the creation of a Provincial Agrarian Reform Coordinating
Committee (PARCCOM) in each province, composed of a Chairman, who shall be
appointed by the President upon the recommendation of the EXCOM, the Provincial
Agrarian Reform Officer as Executive Officer, and one representative each from
the Departments of Agriculture, and of Environment and Natural Resources and
from the LBP, one representative each from existing farmers’ organizations,
agricultural cooperatives and non-governmental organizations in the province;
two representatives from landowners, at least one of whom shall be a producer
representing the principal crop of the province, and two representatives from
farmer and farmworker-beneficiaries, at least one of whom shall be a farmer or
farmworker representing the principal crop of the province, as members:
provided, that in areas where there are cultural communities, the latter shall
likewise have one representative.
The PARCCOM shall coordinate and monitor the implementation
of the CARP in the province. It shall provide information on the provisions of
the CARP, guidelines issued by the PARC and on the progress of the CARP in the
province.
The PARCCOM is the provincial counterpart of the Presidential
Agrarian Reform Council (PARC) Executive Committee (ExCom) and the partners of
the PARC Secretariat. The PARC is the highest policy-making body in
implementing agrarian reform laws. The PARCOMM are tasked with the coordination
and monitoring of the programs and activities implemented by the agrarian
reform program implementing agencies at the field level.
DARPO Cagayan-Batanes PARO II Engr. Arthur Faeldon addressing the members of the PARCCOM-PCIT.
DENR-PENRO reporting on their agency's thrusts and programs under CARP.
Open forum on the member-agencies 2018 thrusts and programs
The Register of Deeds addressing issues pertaining to registration of land titles and deeds.
Representatives from the Kilusang Pagbabago-Cagayan Valley discussed matters on Participatory Governance.
Activities in the Cooperative Sector were presented with more requests for support services facilities being considered.
New technology on the production of Carrageenan based soil enhancer by DENR
Presentation on the concerns of private sector representatives
The Department of Agrarian Reform Provincial
Office of Cagayan-Batanes (DARPO Cagayan-Batanes) has provided funds thru its DAR Central Office, for the construction
of the initial three (3) solar pump irrigation system in Cagayan province with
technology provided by the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Soil and Water
Management (DA-BSWM). The project costs approximately P877,500.00 per site. The Solar Pump Irrigation System project will provide solar panels and control accessories that will generate solar energy. Submersible water pumps will draw water from an underground source into concrete water tanks as storage, and the water from the storage tank shall flow into the vegetable farms through pipes.
The three pilot sites for the solar
pump irrigation systems are located in Agrarian Reform Communities (ARCs),
specfically: (1) San Esteban Farmers Cooperative in the Eastern Alcala Agrarian
Reform Community (Eastern Alcala ARC) in the municipality of Alcala; (2)
Lasvinag Multi-Purpose Cooperative in the Lasvinag Agrarian Reform Community
(Lasvinag ARC) in the municipality of Gattaran; and (3) Nabbotuan Multi-Purpose
Cooperative in the Furaban Agrarian Reform Community (Furaban ARC) in the
municipality of Solana.
On December 18, 2017, an Operation
and Maintenance Seminar was conducted to prepare the Agrarian Reform
Beneficiaries Organizations (ARBO) members to be able to properly operate and
maintain the facilities with a site visit to familiarize the participants with the system.
The Solar Pump Irrigation System resolves
the vegetable farmers’ water supply challenges specially with today’s
devastating effects of climate change. When operational, they can utilize the
systems to provide water to irrigate their vegetable farms, household water supply,
livestock raising, etc. The construction of solar pump irrigation systems in the pilot sites are expected to be completed by the end of January 2018 and will be turned over to the ARBO immediately after completion.
Solar panels provide energy to run the water pumps in vegetable farms with no access to electricity.
A training on the operation and maintenance was conducted for the recipient-operators of the project.
Members of the three ARBO-recipients of the project in Cagayan undergo training on operation and maintenance.
Unlimited water for vegetable farmers through the solar pump (submersible) irrigation system.
