Agrarian groups prosper amidst pandemic
By GIL E. MIRANDA
BUTUAN CITY — While the rest of the agrarian-organizations’ groan in the face of the recession due to coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, some of them were appeared unaffected.
The Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Organizations (ARBOs) in Agusan del Norte are the Department of Agrarian Reform’s (DAR’s) assisted organizations to continue their marketing activities during the impact on travel restrictions by issuing quarantine accreditation pass within and outside of the region.
Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer II (PARPO II) Andre B. Atega, CESO V, said that the farmer-organizations, as frontliners in food sufficiency, remained profitable, which recorded millions of pesos in gross sales.
In a Facebook post, PARPO II Atega said that nothing deters our cooperatives and the Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs) in Agusan del Norte to continue marketing their products to markets.
Planning Officer Annelyn R. Chan, Provincial Project coordinator of the Project ConVERGE, said that like the case of the San Isidro Upland Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative (SIUFMULCO) in Santiago town, the cooperative, a Project ConVERGE assisted organization, continuously marketing their abaca fiber product during the pandemic.
Chan said that SIUFMULCO successfully took a number of deliveries during locked-down across Caraga region and earned a gross sales of more than P37-million from abaca fiber sold to a market center in Baybay, Leyte.
“Despite the challenge, the effort of partner-agencies on deliveries of abaca fiber was covered by certifications from the Department of Agriculture (DA), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and the Philippines Fiber Development Authority (Phil-FIDA),” Chan added.
SIUFMULCO Manager Leonila Mila said that the volume traded from March to June reached up to 535.684 metric tons or 56% increase compared from 301.38 metric tons in the first quarter this year.
The venture earned a gross income of P37-million or 57 percent increased from a gross sales of P21-million from the first quarter, Mila added.
This was also the case of the Avanceña Beneficiaries Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative (ABFMC) in Cabadbaran City and Butuan-Agusan Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative (BAFMPC) that continuously supply milled-rice not only to the regular market but also to local government units’ social amelioration program.
Both agrarian cooperatives earned profits by delivering thousands of sacks of milled rice which made the groups earned millions of pesos in gross sales.
DAR Program Beneficiaries Development Division (PBDD) Ellen J. Torralba said that these cooperatives have shown their effort to reach out to their respective buyers where they could sell their produce.
In a separate interview with BAFMPC Chair Sergio Baguhin said, “We managed to deliver 1,600 sacks of milled rice from March 30 to April 6, 2020, which made the coop earned over Php3-million.”
The BAFMPC also recorded millions of pesos in gross sales and continue serving its members amidst the pandemic.
Another three more cooperatives, whose entrepreneurship lies on the delivery of assorted vegetables, are the CLOA Holders and Vegetable Producers Association (DRCHVPA) in Tubay, Agusan del Norte; the Kilometer 7 Producers Cooperative (KM. 7 PC) in Butuan City; and the De Oro Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Cooperative (DARBECO), of Brgy. De Oro in Butuan City.
These three cooperatives underscored by ensuring their steady supply of vegetables to Butuan City Jail Management and Penology (BJMPC) as part of their marketing tie-up arrangement facilitated by DAR under the Enhanced Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty program (EPAHP). (DAR Agusan del Norte/PIA Agusan del Norte)
