Residents along the proposed farm-to-market road (FMR) carrying their products to the center town of Mallig through the muddy and rugged road. Proposed infra subprojects under PRDP to benefit banana growers in Apayao
‘It will be benefit us more than we can imagine’, was how Mila Millare describe the proposed farm-to-market road (FMR) project would benefit them.
Mila is from Mallig, Flora, Apayao. The FMR was proposed by the Provincial Project Management and Implementing Unit (PPMIU) of Apayao. Mila, like the other producers in this town, has been transporting her banana produce through the swampy and rugged roads of Mallig. She uses a ‘karison’, a cart that is being pulled by a carabao, to transport her produce to the center town of Mallig.
In response to the proposal of the PPMIU-Apayao, the Department of Agriculture – Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) has pipelined two FMR subprojects in Apayao to service banana producing communities in the locality.
A team composed of representatives from the PRDP Regional Project Coordination Office – CAR (RPCO-CAR) accompanied by those from the Provincial Project Management and Implementing Unit (PPMIU) and from the barangay councils proceeded to the municipality of Flora and Pudtol to conduct a pre-site validation of the proposed FMR subprojects namely the Improvement of Sta. Maria – Mallig – Upper Atok (15km) in Flora, and the Improvement of Cabatacan – San Mariano – San Jose FMR (10km) in Pudtol.
During the validation, Social and Environmental Safeguards (SES) concerns such as: the presence of residential houses and elementary schools alongside the proposed project; and trees and electric posts along the road segments. Agricultural lands will also be affected to be able to meet the required carriage width.
The pre-site validation is one among the chain of procedures that needs to be undertaken prior to the issuance of No Objection Letter-1 (NOL-1). After identifying banana and coffee as the priority commodities in Apayao from which PRDP subprojects are to be based, the conduct of surveys and validations, among others shall be undertaken for the formulation of a feasibility study to improve the said FMRs.
PRDP is a six-year development project under the DA funded through a loan from the World Bank, with counterparts from the national government (DA) and local government units. It is designed to contribute to the national goals of inclusive growth, job creation and poverty reduction. (Elvy Taquio, DA-PRDP RPCO-CAR InfoACE Unit)
Mila Millare, a farmer from Mallig, Flora, Apayao, proudly shows her banana plantation.
