AN ASSOCIATION of farmers in Zamboanga del Norte received some P1.5 million worth of integrated livelihood project of the Department of Agriculture-Special Area for Agricultural Development (DA-SAAD).
DA-Zamboanga Peninsula Executive Director Rad Donn Cedeño said the recipient of the livelihood project is the San Nicolas Farmers Association of San Nicolas village in Dapitan City, Zamboanga del Norte.
Cedeño said the recipient farmer association, which has 68 members, received livelihood project comprising the corn, cassava, banana and sweet potato production project, with assorted farm inputs such as; 50 bags of open pollinated variety (OPV) white corn seeds, 60,000 cassava cuttings, 1,950 bags of Vermicast, 120 bags of complete fertilizer, 100 bags of ammonium sulphate and 120 bags of Urea.
He said that as a DA-SAAD farmer-partner, the San Nicolas Farmers Association has committed to provide sweet potato and banana plantlets to the members who are recipients of the sweet potato and banana production project.
"It is our first time to receive projects like these, and we are grateful to DA-SAAD and the city government of Dapitan, who have included us in their budget this year," said Prelogio Quiñanola, San Nicolas Farmers Association president.
Quiñanola said the distribution of the farm inputs is very timely because almost all of the members of the association have done the land preparation and are ready to plant.
The Dapitan City Government has provided the association farm tractor plowing services as the counterpart to the project.
"We hope you manage this project well so that you will be able to produce more, not just for your consumption, but also for your members to earn additional income," said Clark Carreon, San Nicolas barangay chairperson.
The distribution of the farm inputs, held Tuesday, April 13, was witnessed by Dapitan Agricultural Technician Camillo Recamara, SAAD Area Coordinator Shelain Apolinario, and other DA-SAAD personnel. (SunStar Zamboanga)