ALAMINOS CITY, Pangasinan – The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in Pangasinan has awarded PHP540,000 worth of farm tools to 37 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in this city.
In an interview on Friday, DAR Pangasinan information officer Zarena Amado said each farmer received a rechargeable knapsack sprayer, shovel, rake, iron rod, hoe, pick axle, wheelbarrow, pitchfork, and pruning shear.
“The farmers are beneficiaries of the ongoing DAR project Linking Smallholder Farmers to Markets and Microfinance (LinkSFarMM), which trains, assists, and organizes farmers to improve their production quality and boost the value of their products through collective marketing,” she said.
She added the ARBs from barangays Cayucay, Magsaysay, Bisocol, Mona, Bued, Tawintawin, and Telbang have been undergoing training since 2018 to prepare them into becoming agri-entrepreneurs.
Meanwhile, the Alaminos-based DAR-assisted agrarian reform beneficiary organization (ARBO) Patnubay Multipurpose Cooperative has received PHP250,000 worth of field cultivator.
Provincial agrarian reform program officer Ma. Ana Francisco assured the beneficiaries that the farm toolsets are just the first of more support that will come from the department.
Alaminos City Mayor Arth Bryan Celeste commended the effort of DAR as it complements the present programs of the local government unit to the farmers during the global pandemic.
The turnover of the farm tools to ARBs and ARBO was held on Jan. 12. (PNA)
