The Department of Agriculture – Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) Regional Project Coordination Office (RPCO) MIMAROPA closed the year 2022 with a total of 43 physically completed subprojects amounting to PhP926.07 million (M), this is based on the report of the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Unit during the PSO-RPCO Year-End Assessment and Planning Workshop held in Madison 101 Hotel in Quezon City, December 14-15, 2022.

According to the abovementioned report, the 43 completed subprojects are composed of 13 infrastructure subprojects amounting to PhP793.91-M and 30 enterprise subprojects amounting to PhP132.16-M.

I-PLAN

The I-PLAN Component has 14 Value Chain Analyses approved and issued with a No Objection Letter 1 (NOL1), namely: arrowroot, banana (chips), banana (cardava), calamansi, cashew, cassava (chips), coconut (RBCO), coconut (geonet), coconut (virgin coconut oil), mango (processed), mango (fresh), onions, seaweeds (raw dried seaweeds), and tuna.

The “Cashew Resources and Technology Assessment and Geospatial Mapping: Basis for Cashew Industry Enhancement” under the component’s Research and Development initiatives has reached full completion. On the other hand, the “Study on Pests and Diseases of Calamansi: Paving Ways for the Sustainability of Calamansi Industry in Oriental Mindoro” is in the process of developing its Terminal Report and is at a 98% completion rate.

The I-PLAN Component focused on numerous activities for the year 2022. Specifically, a stakeholders’ consultation was conducted for key players in the calamansi, native pig, and onion industries. The Component also hosted a Special Regional Inter-Agency Convergence Meeting focusing on the Mandanas-Garcia Ruling implications and updates on credit programs for Commodity Investment Plans (CIP) implementation support. In addition, the Component conducted a Formulated Workshop for the Municipality CIP (MCIP) in the provinces of Romblon, Palawan, and Oriental Mindoro; and a Value Chain (VC) Assessment Training and Cashew VC Assessment in Palawan.

I-BUILD

The I-BUILD Component has recorded 13 physically completed subprojects out of 35 total SPs as of December 2022, four of which are under implementation, five are under procurement, and 13 are pipelined.

All 35 subprojects under the component amount to PhP4.12 billion and will benefit  289,278 people in the respective localities. 

In addition to subproject implementation, I-BUILD also did a series of SP monitoring activities with the help of the Monitoring and Evaluation Unit. These activities include Citizen Monitoring Tool (CMT) Orientation, Rapid Appraisal of Emerging Benefits (RAEB), and Operations and Maintenance Audit System (OMAS) Inspection. I-BUILD also conducted a Training on Contract Management for proponent groups and implementing units.

I-REAP

As of December 2022, the I-REAP Component has recorded a total of 39 subprojects, 30 of which are physically completed. Seven of these subprojects are currently undergoing procurement while one is under implementation, and one is awaiting the issuance of NOL1. All 39 Enterprise SPs amount to PhP463.82-M and will directly benefit more than 10,000 farmers in MIMAROPA.

The I-REAP has completed two SPs in the second quarter of 2022, namely: Romblon Seaweeds Production and Processing completed in September, and Veggie Canton Noodles and Veggie Snacks Production and Marketing completed in October.

I-REAP focused on various capacity development initiatives for the year 2022. These initiatives include Coco Coir Twining and Coco Geonet Production Training, Coco Sap Gathering and Coco Sugar Production Training, and EOM Formulation Workshop.

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For the year 2023, the  RPCO MIMAROPA is starting its primary preparations for the changes that PRDP Scale-Up entails. ###

(Danica A. Brutas, DA-PRDP MIMAROPA RPCO InfoACE Unit with reports from the M&E Unit)

Blessing and ribbon cutting of the Construction and Upgrading of Junction Salban-Culasian-Magsaysay Farm-to-Market Road in Dumaran, Palawan dated March 18, 2022.
(Photo by Denice Joelle Benosa, DA-PRDP MIMAROPA RPCO InfoACE Unit)