The Department of Agriculture continues to provide assistance to farmers and fisherfolks to help them cope with the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Under the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan 2), DA was alloted P24 billion and part of it will be used to provide cash and food assistance to around 900,000 farmers and fisherfolks nationwide, DA Sec. William Dar said during his recent visit in Baguio Ci1111ty.
Dar said P3,000 will given as cash while P2,000 will be given in the form of food (P1,000 worth of rice and P1,000 worth of chicken and eggs).
Purchasing rice for the assistance will help the rice farmers affected by the low price of palay while the purchased chicken and eggs will help the poultry raisers whose income was affected by the closure of restaurants or decrease in market potentials.
Under the Bayanihan 2, the DA also provided cash assistance to rice farmers.
Dar led the awarding of assistance to improve the livelihood of beneficiaries while ensuring food sufficiency.
Together with DA-Cordillera officials headed by OIC Regional Executive Director Cameron Odsey and Regional Technical Director for Operations Danilo Daguio, Dar gave a certificate of award to Duacan Multipurpose Cooperative (DMPC) of Kabayan, Benguet for a P350,000 worth of assistance under the Kadiwa financial grant program to support their vegetable trading business.
DMPC, a DA-Cordillera awardee as best performing community-based trading facility in 2015, will expand its agri-related production business to include vegetable trading to further help its members.
Under the same program, P1 million was also awarded to the Tiking Manyedyed Farmers Association Inc. of Bauko, Mountain Province for the construction of a storing shed-cum-consolidation and marketing business.
Twelve barangays of La Trinidad, Benguet also received farm inputs and equipment with a project cost of P769,596 under DA’s Gulayan sa Barangay program that is part of the Ahon Lahat, Pagkaing Sapat Kontra Covid-19.
Dar, assisted by Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources officials headed by Regional Director Lilibeth Signey, also awarded one unit of solar powered aquaponics system to Miss Earth Philippines Roxanne Allison Baeyens, who is also DA-Cordillera’s Ambassador of Urban Agriculture. – Carlito C. Dar
