Farmers from Ilocos Sur are now blessed with new farm machinery worth P7.95-million. This was tuned over by Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Secretary John Castriciones in the province of Ilocos Sur on October 17, 2020 to help improve the agriculture sector in the country.
Castriciones said the farm machinery and farm inputs would benefit not just the lives of the recipients but also the agricultural sector of the region. “If we will be able to strengthen agriculture, our economy for sure will improve and we will eventually become a progressive country,” Castriciones said.
The Secretary further said that there is fortune, wealth and progress in agriculture and DAR is continuously providing support services to the farmers all over the country to help the government in strengthening agriculture.
Three (3) heavy-duty trucks and 35 units of water pumps which cost P4.275-million were provided under the DAR’s Block-Farm Productivity Enhancement Program, while various farm equipment such as mobile rice mills, multi-tilling machines, hand tractors, trailers, among others, with a total cost of P3.675-million was provided through the Sustainable Livelihood Project for Disaster-Affected Areas program of the Department.
Regional Director Homer Tobias said more than 3,000 farmer-beneficiaries are expected to improve their economic lives with the DAR’s provision of farm machinery, equipment, and farm inputs. “The recipient agrarian reform beneficiaries’ organizations (ARBOs) were from the agrarian reform communities of the municipalities of Narvacan, Tagudin, Cabugao, Burgos, Alilem, San Juan, Bantay, Sta. Maria, Cervantes and Sta. Lucia,”” Tobias said.
Felipe Quizon of Agbulas Irrigators’ Association expressed his gratitude to the government and DAR and said that the machinery they received will surely boost their farm produce.
