Caption: Governor Reynaldo Tamayo Jr. hands over the ceremonial key of the wing van to Junbard Mahinay, General Manager of Tibud Sa Katibwasan Multipurpose Cooperative, with the presence of Department of Agriculture 12 officials. (Photo by RPCO12)
Transport facility turned-over to cacao farmers in South Cotabato
KORONADAL CITY- South Cotabato Cacao enterprise project beneficiaries received additional support after a wing van was turned over to them by the Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) and Provincial Local Government Unit (PLGU) of South Cotabato.
According to Zaldy Boloron, regional technical director for operations of DA 12, that the P4.9-Million wing van will be utilized for the delivery of goods and products under the P17.9-M grant for the Integrated Cacao Production, Processing and Marketing of Fermented Cacao Subproject.
Governor Reynaldo Tamayo Jr. led the turnover of the van to the farmer-members in a ceremony in the provincial capitol compound since this is part of the shared equity of the PLGU to the Project.
“This subproject aims to increase farmer’s productivity and income by producing cacao beans, and expanding the province’s cacao production,” said Boloron.
He added that six cooperatives in the province’s upper and lower valley areas would implement the venture in phases.
The upper valley cluster is led by the Cacao Coffee Growers Association, with the Lambayong Diversified Farmers Cooperative and Palo 19 Farmers Association as members.
Tibud SKMPC leads the implementation in the lower valley area, with the Glamang Small Coconut Farmers Association and Tupi Banana Growers Association as members.
The fermented cacao venture is the third rural enterprise project approved by the PRDP in the province.
The other ongoing sub-projects are the PHP39.3 million cassava production and marketing venture in Polomolok and the PHP17.9 million coffee bean production and marketing enterprise in Tupi town.
Meanwhile, Jennifer Bretaña, the planning head of the provincial government, noted that the cacao subproject is the most successful of the three subprojects, because as of this moment, it is already in its 90% of implementation.
“They are now only waiting for the completion of the construction of the warehouse, and after that, they can already fully operate,” she added. (By Carl Ulysses Aguillon)
