DAVAO DE ORO, May 30, 2022 – The Department of Agriculture Special Area for Agricultural Development (DA-SAAD) 11 trained 46 Dabawenyo farmers associations’ (FAs) belonging to the Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Area (GIDA) and End Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC) areas across 11 municipalities of Davao de Oro.
These FAs are set to receive the program’s 2022 projects. With 20 members per association, SAAD 11 capacitated 920 mixed-crop farmers, with farming backgrounds ranging from a few years of experience to life-long ones. Training includes skill enhancement on the cultivation of banana, OPV corn, and assorted vegetable best planting and management practices, as well as upgraded goats, native chicken, and mallard duck production and management.
For the capacity enhancement activities, the Regional Program Management Support Office (RPMSO) obligated more than Php 1.1 million. This year, SAAD 11 intends to dole out six animal- and crop-based interventions: banana, Open-Pollinated Variety (OPV) corn, assorted vegetables, upgraded goats, native chicken, and mallard ducks.
“Kani atoang gihimo nanghinaot jud mi nga ma-capacitate mo tanan. Kinahanglan ni atoang training para prepared mo nga mudawat sa atoang mga interventions,” Ms. Naomi Lamata, Regional Focal Person for SAAD 11, said to Rizal Tribal Farmers Association, both a GIDA and ELCAC FA in Monkayo.
(We did this [pertaining to training] because we wanted to capacitate all of you. We need this training to prepare you for our interventions.)
The SAAD Program, seeking an extension for its second phase of implementation, plans for continuity by ensuring existing community-based enterprises (CBEs) are fully supported and emerging ones capacitated.
“Di na ni bag-o sa atoa. Ang SAAD, before manghatag sa mga animal- ug crop-based nato nga interventions, mag-training jud ta. Ang tumong ani, para mahan-ay ang mga beneficiary ug matudluan sila ug tarong nga mga pamaagi sa pagpalambo sa ilahang mga proyekto,” Lamata added.
(This is not new to us. Here in SAAD, we’ll train before we distribute our animal- and crop-based interventions. The purpose of which is that we’ll streamline our beneficiaries and for them to be able to learn the ways to sustain and develop their projects.)
Local experts from Davao de Oro were tapped to train the FAs with some areas needing the presence of armed forces and Revitalized Pulis sa Barangay (RPSB) to streamline the event.
“Kami mapasalamaton sa SAAD kay kani nga People’s Organization (POs) naka-avail ani nga mga projects, dako ni nga tabang para sa improvement sa komunidad” (We are thankful for SAAD that our People’s Organization has availed the projects as these are a great help for the improvement of the community), Bert Kenneth Ibuyan, an RPSB assigned in Rizal, Monkayo, said.
In ELCAC areas, most FAs endorsed for SAAD projects are locally-organized POs organized by RPSB.
Animal-Based Interventions
Since its pilot year, SAAD 11 had focused on animal-based interventions for its beneficiaries, granted poultry and small ruminants to provide food sustainability and increase income.
By 2022, all 46 FAs will receive animal-based interventions from SAAD Region 11 with three options: upgraded goats, native chicken, and mallard ducks. Eighteen (18) FAs are set to receive 320 native chickens while another 18 will get 50 upgraded goats. The remaining 10 opted for the mallard ducks package consisting of 300 birds.
Alongside the animals, each package will include feed and assorted biologics.
“Kani inyohang gihimo, makatabang jud sa amoa sa mga projects nga ipanghatag. Ang inyohang ihatag, amoa jung ampingan ug palamboon” (What you’ve done will help us on the projects which will be distributed. We will take care of it, and sustain it), Simeon Buñag, Libudon United Farmers Association (LUFA) chair in Mabini, enthused. The association will receive upgraded goats before the third quarter ends.
Crop-based interventions
For crops, SAAD 11 identified three surefire projects that previously answered immediate need consumption and have the potential for greater income generation: banana, corn, and assorted vegetables. Eight (8) FAs were previously chosen to receive bananas (8,300 plantlets each) while 33 opted for OPV corn (32 sacks each).
The remaining five FAs, all in Maragusan, the province’s vegetable-producing municipality, lobbied for assorted vegetable production. The package includes 16 packs of hybrid sweet pepper and 5 cans each of hybrid eggplant, cabbage, and squash.
Aside from seeds, the FAs will receive assorted agri-tools including but not limited to knapsack sprayers, digging bars, waterers, etc.
Regional Budget
SAAD Region 11 allotted a little more than Php 33 million for both its animal- and crop-based interventions including these training, a whopping 70% of its 2022 budget allocation of Php 47M. The RPMSO trusts that these intensified social preparation activities will close out its first phase of implementation in Davao region with farmers equipped with effective farming practices that can render and deliver the most favorable outcome of the projects. ###
Writer: James Brian R. Flaga, SAAD RPMSO 11 Information Officer
Source: DA-SAAD Davao de Oro
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