Lala, Lanao del Norte – Around 2,000 households in three barangays of this town will benefit from the rehabilitation of a 4.1-kilometer farm-to-market road (FMR) here.

The P41.4-million worth of road project, which will connect the barangays of Pinuyak, Simpak and Maranding, is also expected to serve 1,700 hectares of rice, corn and coconut areas.

Meanwhile, around 6,000 hectares of rice, coconut and vegetable production areas in the town of Kapatagan are set to be served by the construction and rehabilitation of the 13-kilometer Buenavista-Tiacongan-Bagong Silang FMR.

The P142-million worth of infrastructure project will traverse eight barangays in Kapatagan, benefiting 1,500 households.

The infrastructure projects are funded under the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP), which aims to build rural infrastructures that will support the value chain of priority commodities.

“The goal of PRDP is to develop a strategic network of climate-resilient rural infrastructure and facilities to enhance productivity and give value-added qualities to products in the agri-fishery sector,” said Department of Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, who led the groundbreaking ceremony.

He said that the said projects are part of the P332-million worth of agri-fishery assistance poured by the agency for Lanao del Norte during the Farmers and Fisherfolks Forum held recently in the province.

As of April 2015, Region 10 LGUs have proposed a total of 38 infrastructure subprojects worth P1.79 billion consisting mostly of FMRs.

Aside from farm-to-market roads, PRDP will also build single-lane bridges, irrigation facilities, potable water supply (PWS) systems and postharvest facilities, among other critical infrastructures.

DA-10 Regional Director Lealyn A. Ramos and Lanao Del Norte Governor Mohamad Khalid Dimaporo as well as the towns’ local chief executives also led the groundbreaking ceremony of the two big-ticket FMR projects in Lala and Kapatagan.

Proposals for infrastructure projects are submitted by local government units (LGUs) and are evaluated by PRDP through site validation and technical review of proposed works.

Under PRDP, one of the criteria for selecting infrastructure projects is its economic impact to enterprise development and agriculture production in the area, particularly priority commodities identified in the provincial commodity investment plans (PCIP).

PRDP is a six-year, DA-implemented project that aims to provide key infrastructure and enterprise development interventions to raise incomes, productivity and competitiveness in the countryside, and is jointly funded by the World Bank, national government and local government units. (Vanessa Mae Siano, DA-10 with Jay Rosas, PRDP Mindanao)
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