TAGBILARAN CITY, Sept 14 (PIA)--Crucial roads that could spur agricultural development in otherwise impenetrable idle areas, reduce hauling costs, cut travel time for basic services and local commute as well as expand employment opportunities: these are but some of the benefits as the government partners with the World Bank (WB) to sets up in Bohol a total of 17.81 kilometers of key farm to market roads.
The total farm access roads development is from four areas which the World Bank partnership with the government of the Philippines and the local government units agreed to fund under the Department of Agriculture's (DA) Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP).
Benefitting from the DA PRDP Intensified Building Up of Infrastructure and Logistics for Development (I-BUILD) are the rehabilitation of the 5.9838 kilometers of San Agustin-Canmaya Diot Farm to Market Road (FMR) in Sagbayan, 5.5 kilometers of Alegria-Bugho FMR in Loboc, the 3.54 kilometers Ba-ang-Mahayag Norte FMR in Catigbian and the 2.84 kilometers Del Carmen Weste-Tugbas FMR in Balilihan town.
And all the rehabilitated FMRs now sport the all weather Portland Concrete Cement Pavement, road shoulders, box culverts, cross drains and lined canals for better
The FMR rehab projects cut an average of 51% of travel time in those mentioned areas, cuts 47% of hauling costs for inputs and farm produce, allows the entry of 70% more transport players, develops over 300 more hectares of cogonal lands, increases land valuation and spurs employment opportunities as well as allows easier access of government basic services, according to project proponents.
Developing, upgrading and rehabilitating these named areas cost P 152,368, 179.00 with the WB partnering with the Government of the Philippines, Provincial and Local Governments the governments putting up equity funds, according to project briefers distributed during a press conference September 14.
The Press conference happened a few hours after the First World Bank Implementation Support Mission opened at the Pavilion of the Bellevue Hotel in Panglao.
The PRDP is a 6 year program national project under the DA designed to establish an inclusive climate resilient and market-oriented agri-forestry sector through strategic investments in priority commodity value chains, the press conference showed.
It aims to increase by 50% annual real farm income of beneficiaries, 30% increase in enterprise development from same beneficiaries and some 20% increase in number of farmers and fishers with improved access to agri-services.
PRDP components include investments planning (I-PLAN), I-BUILD, Investments in Rural Enterprises and Agriculture and Fisheries Productivity (I-REAP) and Implementation Support to PRDP (I-SUPPORT).
Along the spread of time, PRDP follows a value chain analysis, which allows stakeholders and communities to get inputs for their commodity investments, explained Engr Arnel de Mesa during the press conference.
DA Regional Director Angel Enriquez also said the baseline study which the project has started could be very useful tool to fit all other future plans for agricultural development.
The projects also use applied geo-tagging to make sure it does not overlap with other similar projects resulting in lost government resources, adopts a document tracking system and puts up a grievance redress mechanism in a flexed effort to make sustainability and empowerment enable communities and expand their opportunities. (rac/PIA-7/Bohol)
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