MISAMIS OCCIDENTAL, February 20, 2020 – Two hundred (200) farmers from 16 Barangays in the municipality of Panaon received farm inputs from the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) Program. 

Each beneficiary received sprinkler, bolo, barrel, 5 in 1 vegetable seed packs, pick mattock, rambutan and mangosteen seedlings, and complete fertilizer. This is part of the Integrated Agricultural Livelihood Project for FY 2019 granted to the LGU of Panaon.

The grants were distributed to recipients in a turn-over ceremony led by Vice Mayor Crisanne Ann Marie Paylaga Macias, together with Association of Barangay Captains (ABC) President Miriam Paylaga. 

The provision of farm inputs is consistent with the SAAD’s mandate to increase food production and help reduce poverty in the marginalized areas of Northern Mindanao. 

With the inputs, the farmers can now start and develop their backyard vegetable and fruit gardens. 

Meanwhile, peanut seeds, sweet corn, and open-pollinated variety corn seeds are expected to be distributed to the same beneficiaries during their planting season from April to May 2020.

SAAD Program in Misamis Occidental

Alongside Lanao del Norte, Misamis Occidental was included in the SAAD-covered provinces in the year 2019 due to high poverty incidence. Aside from Panaon there are four (4) municipalities covered by SAAD in Misamis Occidental namely, Bonifacio, Baliangao, Concepcion and Sapang Dalaga. The program implementation in the province is from 2019 until 2022. 

Each municipality is given 7.4 million worth of livestock, seeds, and other interventions under the Integrated Agricultural Livelihood Project for FY 2019. ###

Writer: Ruth Esther Q. Bermundo, SAAD RPMSO 10 Project Development Officer I

Editor: Jennifer A. Valcobero, SAAD NPMO Public Relations and Communications Officer