For the implementation of the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Plan (CFIDP) Year 2 through the DA-High Value Crops Development Program and in celebration of the 50th Founding Anniversary Celebration of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA),
DA -HVCDP RFO XIII has provided support interventions worth P 160,500 in form of certified cacao seedlings and fertilizers to Calamba Farmers Association from the province of Agusan del Norte.
Furthermore, the program turned over P8 Million worth of the Community-Based Development Enterprise Project (for cacao) to National Guthrie Plantation Inc. Multi-Purpose Cooperative.
The ceremony was attended by notable individuals such as Honorable Grace Carmel Paraedes-Bravo, the Mayor of San Francisco, Agusan del Sur; Gerald Glenn F. Panganiban, Ph.D., the Director of NHVCDP; Engr. Ricardo M. Oñate, Jr., the Director of RFO XIII; Rebecca P. Atega, the Regional Technical Director for Operations; Gio Fortun, the Regional Head of SIPAG, as representative of Senator Villar; Emalyn Colon, the PCA provincial agriculturist; stakeholders; and farmers.
Senator Cynthia Villa, the author of RA No. 11524, otherwise known as the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund Act, provided her message of support to the farmers and the program implementation.
CFIDP aims to enhance the income and productivity of the 2.5 million coconut farmers in the country, promote poverty reduction, education, and social equity, as well as modernize the Philippine coconut industry. One of the component of this program is the intercropping of coffee and/or cacao under coconut trees, which helps improve the livelihoods and income of farmers.
DA CARAGA – RAFIS
