FASTER DELIVERY. Members of the Indigenous Peoples (IPs) farming cooperative in North Cotabato can now deliver cardava bananas without delay after the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) granted them a hauling truck they can call their own on Thursday (Feb. 18, 2021). DAR officials and recipients are shown cutting the ribbon of the new cargo truck during the formal turnover of the vehicle to the B’laan Klayag Amda De Du Sansato-Agrarian Reform Beneficiary Cooperative in Barangay Bacong of Tulunan town in the province. (Photo courtesy of DAR-NoCot)
COTABATO CITY –Banana farmers from an Indigenous Peoples (IP) community in Tulunan, North Cotabato can now deliver their perishable products in time after the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) granted them a hauler truck.
“With the turnover of a PHP1.3-million worth of cargo truck to IP farmers, delays in the delivery of cardava bananas from Barangay Bacong in Tulunan to Kidapawan City can be reduced,” Reynaldo Anfone, provincial agrarian reform officer, said in a radio interview here Friday.
Anfone identified the recipient as the B’laan Klayag Amda De Du Sansato - Agrarian Reform Beneficiary (ARB) Cooperative of Bacong village.
“The provision of hauling truck will surely lessen the transportation cost of the cooperative in bringing their agricultural produce to the market,” Anfone said of the transport vehicle turned over on Thursday afternoon to the IP farmers.
“The cooperative is also expected to earn more by establishing an additional enterprise such as hauling services,” he said.
The B’laan - ARB cooperative is engaged in cardava banana trading since 2016 after the DAR-Catholic Relief Service Project dubbed “Linking Smallholder Farmers to Market” was implemented in the area.
Cesar Masili, project manager, said the project has helped the community in improving their farming practices and in establishing a strong market partner with a good price for their banana products.
“For several years of project implementation, we are always confronted with delays during delivery. Now, that the hauling truck is here, we already have control of our delivery schedule,” Masili said in the vernacular.
On average, the B’laan banana cooperative is delivering 40 tons per month of cardava banana to the Liberty Fruits, Inc. in Barangay Mua-an, Kidapawan City. (PNA)
