On Sustainability and Increase in Farmer Beneficiaries Income. Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Regional Dir. Florante Leal inquired on the sustainability plan and increase in farmer beneficiaries income of each of the proposal and business plan of the Proponent Groups who presented during the 11th RPAB Meeting. 50 DAR-initiated micro enterprises and 5 regular PRDP enterprises get RPAB approval in Ilocos Region
The Regional Project Advisory Board (RPAB) in Region 1 approved 50 Micro Enterprises (formerly Small Livelihood Projects) and five regular enterprise development subprojects under the Investments on Rural Enterprises for Agri-Fishery Productivity (IREAP) Component of the Philippine Rural Development Project, during its 11th meeting last September 22, 2016 at the La Union Country Resort and Hotel.
Early this year, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in Region 1, led by Dir. Homer Tobias, promoted the PRDP among farmer groups who are agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs). After visiting various ARBs in the Ilocos Region, 50 farmer groups willed and qualified to be proponent groups under the micro enterprise development of the IREAP Component.
Forty seven of these ARBs have identical business models, which propose for a farm mechanization service facility. During the 11th RPAB Meeting, these identical enterprises were represented by the presentation of the proposal of the Saranay Agrarian Reform Cooperative of the Municipality of Natividad, Pangasinan.
In addition, the project proposals for Corn and Squash Production and Trading Enterprise by the Metro Nambaran Agrarian Reform Cooperative; the Swine Fattening and Pork Production by the Ayusan Norte-Pantay Agrarian Reform Cooperative; and, the Production of Quality Planting Materials for Onions and Shallots by the Nansuagao Agrarian reform Cooperative were approved by the RPAB during the same meeting.
In total, P50 million-worth of micro enterprise proposals were approved by the RPAB, excluding the counterpart of the proponent group which can be in cash or in kind.
Meanwhile, regular enterprise subprojects, or those that exceed P1 million in total worth of investment, were also approved by the RPAB with a total project cost of about P37 million excluding PG equity.
These include the Fresh Green Carabao Mango Production and Trading Enterprise by the Ilocos Norte Federation of Mango Producers, Inc. located in Laoag, Ilocos Norte; the Onion Production, Consolidation and Marketing Enterprise by the Pasuquin Onion-Garlic Growers Association in Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte; the Yellow Granex Production and Trading Enterprise by the Alcala Onion Growers Multi-Purpose Cooperative in Alcala, Pangasinan; the Integrated Quality Peanut Seed Production and Farm Service Enterprise by the Conconig East Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative in Sta. Lucia, Ilocos Sur; and, the Green Carabao Mango Production and Marketing Enterprise by the Pal-lim Multi-Purpose Cooperative in Bauang, La Union.
After the RPAB approval, the enterprise and project proposals will again be reviewed and evaluated by the cluster and national support offices for the issuance of the No Objection Letter 1 (NOL 1), which signals the commencement of the procurement process. If these proposals be approved, it will translate to a total worth of investment of about PP105 million for the Ilocos Region. (Ilocos InfoACE)
