Like in other neighbour towns and cities, agriculture is the main source of living in San Ildefonso, Bulacan, as attested by thousands of farmers actively engaged in planting palay, string beans, tomato, eggplant, upo and Ampalaya (bitter gourd), among others. Almost 90 percent of its total land area is covered by the agricultural plantation in the municipality.

Despite the flourishing agriculture industry in Central Luzon, a huge percentage of local farmers in San Ildefonso still experience low farm productivity, thus urging the local government to propose a farm-to-market road to the Philippine Rural Development Program (PRDP) that shall provide easier access to farmers and residents on all weather conditions.

The FMR, with a total cost of P97,555,310.88, aims to reduce the average travel time from the farms to the markets in Barangays Bubulong Malake, Bulusukan, Bubulong Munti and Bohol na Mangga (4Bs) by an aggregate 25 percent. Being the pilot PRDP subproject of the whole Region 3, the proposal was required of an initial approval by the World Bank and was eventually given the green light on September 14, 2015. An estimated 7,000 residents are expected to benefit from the Project.

Presently, the existing road serves as the only access of the residents in the four barangays en route to the urban markets. The travel time from the barangay to the town proper ranges from 30 minutes to two hours due to the appalling road conditions as well as the limited to no availability of public vehicles.

On October 13, delegates from the World Bank traversed the rough roads of the above-mentioned barangays to inspect the pre-implementation status and more importantly, to consult with the beneficiaries of the project.

“It is important for the community to be mobilized, so they can act as an ‘eye’ for the long-term sustainability of our investment,” said Mr. Michael Roscitt from the Impact Evaluation Program on Public Sector Governance and Justice, one of the WB representatives who visited the site.

With San Ildefonso being the number one producer of Ampalaya in the province, the municipality has been able to identify ampalaya as a priority commodity, based on the formulation of the Value Chain Analysis (VCA) and the Provincial Commodity Investment Plan (PCIP). With this, beneficiary farmers carry on the objective of increasing the productivity and profitability of the vegetable industry, through the implementation of a better road access. (Kayla Arceo, PSO Luzon A InfoACE)