BUTUAN CITY – The Department of Agriculture in the area (DA-13) said it has allocated PHP608 million for the construction of 35 farm-to-market roads (FMRs) in different provinces in the region to provide farmers more access to market centers.
DA-13 Regional Executive Director Abel James I. Monteagudo, in a statement Thursday (July 9), underscored the importance of investing in infrastructure development to ensure food security and converting farming areas in the region into resilient communities.
“Infrastructures like FMRs would improve logistics and linkages of production areas to the domestic and export markets,” Monteagudo said.
He said more areas in the region stand to benefit for more farm infrastructure funding through the agency's Farm-to-Market Road Development Program (FMRDP).
Of the 35 FMRs allotted for Caraga this year, seven projects with a total budget of PHP163 million are already under construction while the remaining 28 are still already scheduled for release.
“FMRs give better leverage to farmers' access to better prices and make their products more saleable,” Monteagudo said, pointing out that FMRs reduce handling losses and give the farmers more profit and more returns from their produce.
“It’s not only profit that the farmers could enjoy out of the FMR but the accessibility it gives brings in basic services like health services, access to school, and security,” Monteagudo added.
DA-13 said a total of 121 FMRs with a total length of 185.6 kilometers with a total worth of PHP1.9 billion have already been implemented in the different provinces in the region from 2015 to 2019.
The FMR projects were completed in partnership with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the respective local government units (LGUs) where the projects were implemented.
Rene Morales, head of the Engineering Division of DA-13 stressed the importance of the linkage of the farmers and their products to the intended markets in the region.
“It is not just our farmer’s products that we are going to link to the market, but also it will bring easy access to import agricultural inputs to our respective production areas,” Morales said.
He added that agricultural inputs are products that are needed in crop and livestock production that include seeds, fertilizers, feedstuffs, and plant protection products. (PNA)
