Three years after the proposed farm-to-market project funded under the Department of Agriculture – Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) was completed, households and beneficiaries, particularly tilapia growers and farmers from Ramon, Isabela, shared the benefits they experienced since the project’s completion.

The Rehabilitation of Oscariz – Nagbacalan Farm-To-Market Road was an existing road network that served as a primary road providing access to farmers in transporting their products to market.

However, with the road’s previous conditions, farmers struggled to transport their agri-fishery produce, attract buyers, and access other government services.

To address this issue, the local government unit of Ramon, Isabela tied up with the DA-PRDP to propose the existing road’s rehabilitation, which was eventually completed on November 11, 2020.

The FMR project primarily aims to support the production and marketing of highly perishable goods, especially fishery products within the road influence area.

It is also an efficient facility for transporting farmers’ produce directly to wider markets in Santiago City and neighboring municipalities and cities in order to provide farmers with a bigger income.

The road project spans 6.80 kilometers and had a total project cost of Php 126.95 million pesos.

Based on the results of the recently held Rapid Appraisal of Emerging Benefits (RAEB) by the DA-PRDP Project Support Office (PSO) and Regional Project Coordination Office 2 (RPCO2), data gathered through household interviews show some immediate impacts brought about by the FMR project.

These include a reduction in travel time going to the market by 50%, an increase in the number of business establishments along the constructed road, faster response during emergencies, and the emergence of tilapia and rice buyers and traders in the barangay, among other things.

Similarly, results from the key informant interviews (KII) revealed changes in the lives of the farmers from the project, such as ease and accessibility, lessened deterioration of transport vehicles, easier product hauling and transportation, and improved delivery of LGU services.

According to Joey Estepa, who has been engaged in tilapia production for 20 years, the rehabilitated road is beneficial to tilapia growers and farm owners like himself in their area as the transportation of their produce has become easier and safer. Additionally, the project prompted an increase in buyers and suppliers coming into their barangay.

“Malaking tulong siya, mas lalo na sa amin na fish owner, farm owner. Mas lalong napapadalas yung, napapabilis yung transportation, safety purposes kasi nga yung pag tatransport ng mga isda, pagtatransport ng mga palay is medyo safety na siya pag kinakarga sila sa mga sasakyan, for transportation, nagiging safety na siya kasi nga di na siya lubak lubak,” Estepa said.

“Tapos medyo maliwanag na yung daan, although kahit walang streetlights, nakikita mo kasi may barricade siya. Malinis siya both sides, tapos ngayon napapabilis na yung transportation. Mas dumadami na rin yung mga nag iinvest, pumupunta na mga buyers at suppliers ng mga isda kaya satisfied kami, yung pinatayo na farm-to-market road. Mas lalo dito sa benefits sa Oscariz papuntang Nagbacalan,” he added.

Fely S. La Fuente echoed Estepa’s sentiment, saying the road not only helped them travel faster to and from the market but also provided them accessibility to government services.

“Yung dating ilang oras na byahe namin papuntang bayan at ibang lugar naging 15 mins na lang. Mabilis at di na maputik lalo na pag umuulan. Yung mga bata ngayon kahit halos naka service na kasi nga maganda na yung daan. Mabilis na rin pag may emergency, papunta sa mga hospital at iba pang lugar pag kailangan,” La Fuente shared.

According to Municipal Agriculturist Cayetano Cristobal Absalon Jr., the Municipality of Ramon is known as the Tilapia town of Isabela, accounting for more than 2,000 tilapia farmers. He also said that PRDP has greatly helped in the development of the agri-fishery in their municipality.

With PRDP bound to scale up, the LGU of Ramon, Isabela hopes to have more projects with the Project to support farmers of other commodities cultivated in their area aside from tilapia. ### (Ericson Guiao, PSO North Luzon InfoACE)