THE Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has identified two sites in Negros Occidental, particularly in towns of Manapla and Murcia, for various climate-resilient agricultural production projects.
DAR-Negros Occidental I, through its support services team, already conducted series of field activities.
These sites will host various projects like Farm Business School (FBS) Orientation and potential transfer of technology, establishment of demo farm, and provision of farm machinery under the agency’s Climate-Resilient Farm Productivity Support Project (CRFPS).
Farmer-beneficiaries of Candelaria Farm Workers Association at Barangay Purisima in Manapla have already availed of the capacity development training for product development through marketing and learning sessions.
The training aims to capacitate the 99 members of the association to be innovative by doing hands-on activities like value-adding of products.
Also, the team is developing the beneficiaries to see farming as business and to be entrepreneurs through business planning and savings mobilization.
Meanwhile, a site validation was also conducted for Sta. Rosa Small Farmers Association at Purok Old Barrio in Barangay Sta. Rosa, Murcia for an organic rice production project.
DAR-Negros Occidental, in a statement, said the project is focused on major crop-based producing organizations.
Through which, the agency targets to increase the farming yields within a year through climate-resilient technological interventions that will be adapted by 59 members of the organization.
It is in partnership with the Philippine Rice Research Institute, Department of Agriculture, Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization, and National Irrigation Administration.
CRFPS is geared towards the goal of building resiliency for agrarian reform communities with an emphasis on enhancing and sustaining the agricultural productivity of the organizations as adaptation measures towards farming mechanization, it added.