LEGAZPI CITY – The Department of Agrarian Reform in Bicol (DAR-5) has urged a farmers' group in Camarines Sur to boost its participation in a program that aims to ease hunger, provide food, nutrition security, and reduce poverty in urban, rural areas, including marginalized communities.
The 50-member Turague Agrarian Farmers Association (TAFA) in Sagnay town, assisted by the agency under Enhanced Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty (EPAHP) convergence program, received farm inputs, a series of technical training, and other assistance.
DAR-Bicol Assistant Director for Operations Romulo Britanico, in a statement on Wednesday, said the program aims to boost their agricultural output, ensure a stable household income, and improve the living standards of TAFA members.
Britanico said under EPAHP, farmers will have easy access to a market because the government and private sector partners will purchase their produce directly. It will also create jobs and help farmers connect with business partners and bigger markets.
"Kayo po ay napakaswerte dahil isa kayo sa target for 2022 na tutulungan namin under the DAR’s program, kaya sana po pagbutihin, pagyamanin at pangalagaan ninyo ito sapagkat ito po ay pwede ninyong ipamana sa inyong mga anak sa darating na panahon (You are quite fortunate since you are one of the 2022 DAR program beneficiaries. Therefore, I hope you will improve, enrich, and sustain it so you can pass it on to your children in the future)," he said.
As a recipient of the EPAHP, the organization received starter kits for vegetable production, including 30 free-range chickens, feeds, a net house, a grass cutter, a submersible water pump, garden tools, and a variety of vegetable seeds, such as eggplant, pechay, pole sitao, hot pepper, tomato, bottle gourd (upo), bitter gourd (ampalaya), squash, bell pepper, cauliflower, cucumber, and lettuce. (PNA)
