More than 14 thousand residents as well as coffee producers of Paracelis, Mountain Province will soon benefit from the concreting of a farm-to-market road (FMR) which the municipality has proposed for funding from the Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) in 2015.

The issuance of a “No Objection” letter from the PRDP’s National Project Coordinating Office (NPCO) on January 5, 2017 signals the kick-off activities for the subproject entitled “Improvement of Poblacion-Bantay Farm-to-Market Road“.

The contract for the Improvement of said FMR was awarded to Edison Development and Construction/Upland Construction and Engineering Services – JV.

The P143M subproject aims to rehabilitate said FMR with a 12.638 kilometer stretch, directly passing through three out of nine barangays, namely: Poblacion, Bantay and Buringal – the three major contributors of Robusta coffee in Paracelis.

The e-VSA map for Mountain Province showed that the municipality of Paracelis is the top producer of Robusta Coffee in the province contributing  almost 80% of the total provincial output averaged at 60 tons, albeit data showing that Paracelis has the lowest number of coffee producers among the municipalities in the province.

“The rehabilitation of this FMR is set to boost the economy of the municipality and the Province as well.  The market potential for Robusta Coffee is strong, but the present poor road condition in the area hinders its competitiveness to the outside market,” said Ms. Lilly Rose Kollin, PPMIU Head of Mountain Province. “The approval of this subproject is a blessing.  Our concerted efforts have come to its fruition, at last.  Kudos to all those who have made this possible,” she added.

Coffee was identified as the top priority commodity for the Cordillera Region to be assisted by the PRDP, a six year national project aiming to establish a modern, inclusive, value chain-oriented and climate-resilient agriculture and fisheries sector.  The PRDP shall provide key infrastructure, facilities, technology and information to raise incomes, productivity, and competitiveness in target areas.  It is jointly funded by the World Bank, the national government, the Local government units and private sectors. (Mabel Zabala, DA-PRDP InfoACE RPCO CAR)