PHILIPPINE Rural Development Project (PRDP) Mindanao deputy project director Danilo T. Alesna said solar dryers for seaweed farmers in Tawi-Tawi are top priority projects in terms of infrastructure development for the maritime industry of the province.
“Unsa ba jud ang problema nila karun? Mao jud ang dryer. Mao nang gipaspasan nato na. Naa tay tulo ka dryers sa Tandubas, Tawi-Tawi, and hopefully by first quarter next year mahuman nato (What is really their need? It is really the dryers. That’s why we are fast-tracking the project. We currently have three dryers in Tandubas, Tawi-Tawi, and hopefully by the first quarter next year, we can finish those),” Alesna said in a media forum at Habi at Kape, Abreeza Mall on Wednesday, December 12.
Part of the P23.2 million-budget given by PRDP to Tawi-Tawi is for seaweed production in the towns of Panglima Sugala, South Ubina, Sitangkal, Tandubas, and Sibutu.
The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm) website shows that in 2015 alone, Tawi-Tawi harvested a total of 305,902.71 metric tons of seaweeds, almost half of Armm’s 627,435.50 metric tons of that product recorded that year.
In that year, price of dried seaweed was at P2,200 per pikol (one hundred kilograms), or P22 per kilograms.
The money allocated for Tawi-Tawi is under PRDP’s goal to increase rural incomes and enhance farm and fishery productivity under PRDP’s project called Investments in Rural Enterprises and Agriculture and Fisheries Productivity (I-Reap).
Based on previous reports, the solar dryers in Tandubas also include warehouses in order to serve as a stocking area for seaweed produce. The facility will benefit around 900 households, and a fish landing which will also help around 260 village folks.