ALUBIJID, MISAMIS ORIENTAL – Farmers in Misamis Oriental hopes to get the best profits out of their farm produce after the provincial government awarded them a P20-million all-weather farm-to-market road that spans up to eight kilometers covering four villages.
These are barangays Talaba, Sampatunog, Calatcat and Tugasnon.
Vermie Guzom, village chairman of Calatcat here, said the road project could surely help the farmers in the village, which is 3.10 kilometers away.
He said most of the people in Calatcat and other villages are tobacco and corn farmers and they always find it hard to bring their produce in the market due to road problem.
The produce are transported with the use of farming carts (karomata).
Cheaper transport
Ricardo Batalla, a resident of Calatcat who owns a hectare of rice field and almost a hectare of cornfield, said it would take them an hour to get their farm produce to the market with the current road condition.
Batalla is hopeful with the road concretion the farmers’ produce would be delivered to direct buyers in the market for around 10 minutes.
Using the farming carts, Batalla would spend around P3,000 per harvest to bring their produce to the markets.
“This will surely reduce our expenses when we transport our products,” said Batalla.
He said the transportation of their farm produce would be a lot faster than before.
Project
Provincial administrator Edmundo Pacamalan Jr. said the project costs P20-million and would make the road passable on all weather conditions.
Pacamalan added that some farmers in El Salvador City are also beneficiaries of the project.
Meanwhile, Lester Bolo, the assistant provincial engineer told Sun*Star Cagayan de Oro that the province did not opt to road concreting because the project cost would only cover two kilometers.
Bolo added they wanted to extend the road to extend first, and possibly next year if there is a budget they would proceed with the concreting.
Bolo said they would install 175 pieces of culverts in the area for the eight-kilometer road.
“The rain water won’t bother the farmers anymore since it couldn’t make the road muddy which is one reason why it is difficult to transport their produce,” he said.
The construction is expected to end in four months or earlier, Bolo disclosed.
A focus group discussion had been conducted as the project opened to gather insights and comments from the beneficiaries since it is part of the social acceptability phase.
Pacamalan said it is important to listen to the demands of the people.