BARMM AGRI-SUPPORT. The BARMM Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Agrarian Reform (MAFAR) extended Monday (July 10, 2023) agricultural inputs to some 730 farmers and women groups in Maguindanao del Sur and Barangay Manarapan, Carmen, North Cotabato. The beneficiaries consisted of a women’s group in Carmen that received goats and free-range chicken for propagation, while the farmers in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte, received (inset) agricultural products and fertilizers. (Photo courtesy of MAFAR)
DATU ODIN, Maguindanao del Norte – The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao has provided agricultural assistance to at least 730 farmers here, especially to former "Moro combatants", to increase their productivity and income.
“The distribution of the agri-inputs reflects the regional government’s commitment to support and empower farmers, especially the former Moro combatants,” Minister Mohammad Yacob of BARMM’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Agrarian Reform (MAFAR) said in a statement Tuesday.
On Monday, MAFAR distributed some PHP3 million worth of agricultural inputs to the farmers who vowed to use the assistance to increase production.
Mohammad Campong, a member of the Makinugon Farmers Producer Cooperative (MFPC), acknowledged the impact of farm inputs on their livelihood.
"These have enormous potential for us farmers to boost our agriculture production and become role models among the beneficiaries of MAFAR," Campong said in the vernacular.
MAFAR provided the farmers with 100 sacks of hybrid corn seeds, 300 bags of Urea (46-0-0), 125 bags of complete fertilizer (14-14-14), 150 bags of foliar fertilizer, 4 units of knapsack battery-powered sprayer, and 5 rolls of barbed wire.
Support for women’s group
Meanwhile, the agency also extended a livelihood package for the Manarapan Women Association in Carmen, North Cotabato, to make them even more productive.
The women received livestock from MAFAR that included 14 heads of goats, which served as an addition to the previous intervention of 60 heads of free-range chickens and ducks.
Diana A. Manalasal, MAFAR gender and development (GAD) alternate focal person, said through the GAD program, their office aims to strengthen further support for women's participation in the field of agriculture. (PNA)
