TO boost the livelihood of more than 400 coconut farmers in Region 2 (Cagayan Valley), the Department of Agriculture Regional Field Office 2 (DA-RFO2) distributed P10 million worth of agricultural inputs in the town of Pamplona in Cagayan province on September 12.
Jovyjane Ganat of the DA-RFO2 Agriculture and Fisheries Information Section said the distribution under the department’s High Value Crops Development Program (HVCDP) was in celebration of the third year implementation of the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Plan (CFIDP).
During the event, Ganat said key activities included the ceremonial planting of cacao and coffee trees under coconut trees in Barangay Allasitan in Pamplona.
Also conducted were the formal launch of the CFIDP in the area, the signing of a memorandum of agreement between the DA, the local government, and farmers cooperatives and associations, technical briefings and the turnover of various agricultural inputs.
Thanking the DA for choosing Pamplona as a CFIDP beneficiary, Mayor Digna Puzon-Antonio also encouraged the farmers to “take good care of the provided resources to increase your productivity and income.”
“We are lucky to be one of those chosen and be given free equipment. This is a big help to increase the income of every coconut farmer here in Pamplona,” Puzon-Antonio said.
The recipients of the agricultural inputs included the Pata West Small Water Irrigators System Association that received P1.2 million worth of coffee seedlings, fertilizers, pesticides, green nets, water drums, plastic soil augers and brush cutters.
The Cabaleng-San Isidro Farmers Association, Tappa Atta Tribal Association and Gonzaga Coconut Farmer Association received similar packages with the amount ranging from P714,985 to P1.74 million.
Also, the Balingit Farmers Association received cacao seedlings and farm inputs for their Coconut-Cacao Intercropping Project while other groups like the Casitan Small Water Irrigators System Association and the Pamplona Coconut Farmers Association received cacao seedlings and related materials, with each package valued at P714,985.
In her virtual message, DA-HVCDP Undersecretary Cheryl Marie Natividad-Caballero explained the objective of the program is to “enhance the livelihood of coconut, coffee and cacao farmers by improving agricultural practices and production.”
“These interventions the DA is distributing are to improve your farming and increase production,” Natividad-Caballero said.
Also during the event, DA-HVCDP and National Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture focal person Carol Albay provided an overview of CFIDP and reminded the beneficiaries of their responsibility to properly manage the assistance or interventions they received.
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