Aerial shot of the P187 million 14.33 km Poblacion-Manlico-Uba Farm-to-Market Road (FMR) project in Cortes, Surigao del Sur.

The Department of Agriculture – Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) in Caraga is geared to complete the P187 million concreting of Poblacion-Manlico-Uba Farm to Market Road (FMR) project in Cortes, Surigao del Sur.

The ongoing 14.33 km road construction that benefits 1,172 farming and fishing households is already at 98.96% complete and is hoped to be turned over soon to the municipality after the final inspection.

“The FMR will surely translate to better production of agri-fishery commodities in this part of Cortes,” said Grace Grado, the Municipal Project Management Implementing Unit (MPMIU) head.

The road concreting project covers 4,537 hectares of influence area and would directly benefit the 6 barangays or 5,346 individuals with coconut farming as the common livelihood.

Grado added that this intervention is not just a way to support agricultural production, but also uplift the living condition of farmers and fisherfolk-beneficiaries in the area.

“The rough road before has given us a hard time transporting our goods to the market and it was so costly too. We thank the government for helping us farmers through this project,” said Vicente Malingin, a farmer from Barangay Tuburan.

Farmers in the 6 barangays that benefit from the FMR project are already experiencing the easy flow of transporting their agricultural commodities to the market.

DA-PRDP’s concrete road is paving the way in supporting the agricultural sector in reaching far-flung areas where the beneficiaries are given new opportunities and additional livelihood to augment their income.

Cortes has also received the P4 million five all-weather dryers that benefit the five farmers’ associations in the municipality.

The Infrastructure Component of DA-PRDP aims to put in place strategic and climate-resilient rural infrastructure facilities along the value chain of a particular commodity to achieve its maximum value and increase the profit of the players in the industry. (Fretcher Magatao | RPCO-Caraga)