FARM-TO-MARKET roads have been opened in Ilagan, Isabela, targeted to benefit agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs), the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) said.
The package consists of three new roads constructed for P47 million and other items designed to improve the ARBs’ market access and productivity, the DAR said.
DAR Cagayan Valley Regional Director Primo C. Lara said the roads also make travel faster and safer for farmers.
“(They) will also connect them to bigger markets, improve their incomes, and uplift the socio-economic conditions of entire agrarian reform communities,” he said.
Efficiencies in the transport of produce are also expected to reduce post-harvest losses, particularly during the rainy season.
Ilagan Mayor Jose Marie L. Diaz said: “The dream of a Bagong Pilipinas begins with giving our farmers new hope and a better future.”
The package for Ilagan includes farm machinery and Certificates of Condonation with Release of Mortgage.
The New Agrarian Emancipation Act (RA 11953) authorizes the condonation of farmers’ unpaid debt and estate taxes. — Andre Christopher H. Alampay