A P9.5-MILLION organic production facility will be built in Sto. Tomas, Davao del Norte to benefit about 600 farmers in the municipality.
The 1,901-square-meter organic production center in Barangay Bobongon, Sto. Tomas, Davao del Norte is an assistance under the Department of Agriculture Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP)’s I-BUILD (Intensified Building Up of Infrastructure and Logistics for Development) program.
In a statement, DA-Davao information officer Noel Provido said the center will also have common service facilities such as multi-purpose rice solar dryer, cacao solar drier, cacao fermentation facility, vermi storage, vermicomposting beds with shed, and warehouse which can be used by 655 members of the various farmers' associations in the province.
“The subproject is expected to reduce farm production cost of 25 percent to 40 percent due to lower prices of organic fertilizer that will be produced in the facility. It will also help farmers incur savings of hauling cost by 40 percent due to the proximity of the organic input producer in the farming communities,” he said.
“The availability of warehouses will improve quality and increase market value of corn, rice, and cacao produce and at the same time reduce postharvest losses which can be a factor in increasing farmers' income,” he added.
DA-PRDP-Davao deputy project director Marila Corpuz said this will help increase the value of the farmers’ produce.
“Organically produced commodities have added-value with a niche market that is willing to pay a higher price just to be ensured with healthy and safe food products,” she said during the groundbreaking this week.
She also urged all the stakeholders to fast track the implementation of the organic center for the project to contribute to DA's Plant, Plant, Plant program through increasing levels of productivity across all agricultural commodities.
Last month, other municipalities in Davao del Norte also received several infrastructure projects from the PRDP.
Among them are the rehabilitation of 7.8-kilometer of New Visayas-Binancian Farm-to- Market Road (FMR) in Asuncion, Davao del Norte amounting to P86.5 million and the rehabilitation of 8.98-kilometer Sto. Niño-Igangon FMR in San Isidro, Davao del Norte amounting to P74.1 million.
There was also the Potable Water System (PWS) in Barangay Kasilak amounting to P6.2 million and the PWS in Barangay Dalisay amounting to P4.1 million both in Panabo City, Davao del Norte.
"This project complements the province's Kaagapay or Kausa sa Agrikultura ug Panginabuhian sa Barangay which aims to help improve the quality of life of our farmers especially in this town," Davao del Norte governor Edwin Jubahib said.
PRDP is a special project of the DA and jointly funded by the World Bank, the national and local government units. It implements infrastructure and enterprise development projects including the utilization of science-based tools such as value chain analysis, geo-tagging, and expanded-vulnerability suitability assessment.