THE Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in Negros Occidental - North has awarded 20 hectares of land to 22 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in Cadiz City recently.
Municipal Agrarian Reform Program Officer Rodrigo Jose Villaluna, who led the certificate of land ownership award (Cloa) distribution and ARB installation, told farmers to make the land productive so to improve their lives.
The 20-hectare covered landholding was formerly owned by Arsenio Jison situated at Hacienda Estrella in Barangay Sicaba.
DAR-Negros Occidental I said the activity was conducted through land acquisition and distribution (LAD) process under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms (Carper).
In its mandate, public and private agricultural landholdings are acquired by the government to be distributed to tenants, farmers, farmworkers and other tillers who are qualified to become ARBs.
This is in the form of Cloas covering one contiguous tract or several parcels of land cumulated up to a maximum of three hectares per ARB.
This is anchored to the agency's aim to provide lands to landless farmers and farmworkers, guarantee the farmers' land security, deliver social equity, and provide them with resources needed to ensure their economic viability and productivity.
With Negros Occidental still under modified general community quarantine, the activity complied with minimum health protocols set by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Department of Health, it added.