Fourty-one year-old vegetable farmer Crisanto Manabat of Siko Matanda, Talavera, Nueva Ecija could not hide his joy as the Basang Hamog-Pantoc Bulac-Bulac Farm to Market Road gets inaugurated.

With a total length of 2.96 km amounting to P24.59 million, the inauguration was successfully held on September 5, 2017, marking the second FMR of the province under the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP).

Manabat is one of the thousands of beneficiaries of the project who will finally have his onion and vegetable products transported on a climate-resilient access road.

“Before, this road was truly a big problem to the locals, especially to farmers like me because it is rugged. It took us more than one hour to reach the market. But now with the construction of this road, it makes our transportation easier and our products reach the market fresh,” he said.

“I am glad that our government sees the need of a good road to small farmers like me in order for our products to have marketable price. PRDP is one of the assurances that the funds of our country are being used for the well-being of the Filipino people,” he added.

The road will have direct and indirect benefits to the population of the municipality, particularly to the people living in the concerned barangays where the road project traverses. A total of 1,757 residents and farmers from Basang Hamog, 808 from Pantoc Bulac and 1,685 from Bulac will now be making use of the road project.

Reaping the fruits of hard work

In the same event, a farm machinery shed and six units of farm tractors amounting to P18 million were turned over to the Nagkakaisang Magsasaka Agricultural Primary Multi-Purpose Cooperative (NMAPMPC), the proponent group of the enterprise subproject.

The activity was attended by PSO Luzon A Deputy Project Director Elma Mananes, RPCO3 Alternate Focal Person Gil David, PPMIU Focal Person Jovita Agliam, Talavera Mayor Nerivi Martinez, Provincial Agriculturist Serafin Santos, Board Member Rommel Padilla, Board Member Baby Panlilo and RPCO3 I-REAP Component Head William Valdez.

Santos greatly acknowledged the combined efforts of the PLGU and MLGU staff together with the RPCO3 in achieving the projects under PRDP.

“I hope that you (proponent group) will always be united as one so that you can be more successful compared to what you already attain now,” he said.

David likewise said, “If the members of an organization or cooperative help one another, I guarantee you that blessings will be given. You received these projects because the name of your cooperative says it all”

“You are lucky and blessed because Talavera is one of the municipalities that was qualified to have PRDP subprojects,” he added.

Sixty percent of the net income to be generated from the project will be used to purchase additional machineries and for other identified interventions, while 40% will be given to the cooperative as their share. The said share will be used for various activities of the cooperative which aims to uplift the living conditions of its members and the communities it serves.

Moreover, part of cooperative’s share will be used to purchase mechanical onion transplanter and mechanical sprayer. In this way, full mechanization of onion production will be attained in the future.

World-class quality and competence

With the quality and standards of subprojects under PRDP, it took the province almost three years from planning, proposing, complying to implementing, before successfully receiving the projects, according to PPMIU Focal Person Jovita Agliam.

“Even with this long period of time, everything is worth it, because we can see that these projects were strictly built according to their specifications, and the qualities are indeed world class,” said Dr. Agliam.

Last March, the World Bank, the Project’s major funder has inspected and validated subprojects under I-REAP and I-BUILD and commended the implementation of the subprojects in Talavera.

Meanwhile, PSO Luzon A Deputy Project Director Elma Mananes emphasized on the development objectives of the Project, as well as the potential involvement of the farmers in international exporting.

“Under the Enterprise Development Component, we are molding our beneficiaries to be involved in business ventures so that time will come that the produce of our onion farmers will be exported in other countries. It is also our aim that through PRDP, our products will be known internationally,” said Mananes.

Another subproject amounting to P35 million is underway for the municipality of Talavera, which is included in the priority list of PRDP North Luzon’s additional financing from the World Bank.

PRDP is a six-year national project under Department of Agriculture that aims to establish a modern, inclusive, value chain-oriented and climate-resilient agriculture and fisheries sector. (Dianne M. Lapuz, RPCO3-InfoACE and Kayla Arceo, PSO North Luzon InfoACE)