by Ram Bill G. Bautista, RPCO3 InfoACE

The Department of Agriculture – Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) Scale-Up aims to intensify its efforts to strengthen the agri-fishery industry with Php2.2 billion worth of subproject proposals under the meticulous review of the Central Luzon Regional Project Coordination Office (RPCO 3), North Luzon Project Support Office (PSO Luzon A), and the National Project Coordination Office (NPCO).

The expanded version of the agency’s flagship program is set to further boost the region’s agri-fishery sector after the successful implementation of the original PRDP. Php2.6-billion worth of infrastructure and enterprise subprojects, supported by the World Bank, were completed in Central Luzon since it was launched in 2014.

The construction and improvement of farm-to-market roads (FMR) with a total distance of 104 kilometers took up the largest share of funding from the original PRDP with a total value of Php1.2 billion. The province of Nueva Ecija received the most subprojects among the seven provinces of Central Luzon with 59 interventions valued at Php1.5 billion.

In 2024, four subprojects have been approved by the Regional Project Advisory Board: the Talavera Onion Cold Storage in Nueva Ecija which already began construction on February 3, the Improvement of Salay-Kadayakan FMR in Maria Aurora and Dipaculao, Aurora, Pangolingan FMR in Palauig, Zambales, and Burgos-Salazar FMR in Carranglan Nueva Ecija, also set to kick off their construction this year.

These accomplishments were highlighted during the RPCO 3’s first management meeting for 2025 on February 4 at the DA RFO 3 Building, City of San Fernando, Pampanga. Led by Dr. Arthur D. Dayrit, Regional Project Director, each component and unit presented their accomplishments in 2024 and their action plans for this year’s project implementation.

In his message, Dayrit directed the staff to continuously promote the project and gather more proposals for agri-infra and enterprise interventions. “Hopefully this year, we can get more [PRDP] Scale-Up [sub]projects for I-BUILD and I-REAP to respond to the needs of our stakeholders,” Dayrit said.