PRDP gives green light to Sagbayan road rehab

CEBU, Philippines - The World Bank-funded Philippine Rural Development Project has already permitted the rehabilitation of the farm-to-market road in Sagbayan, Bohol, the first PRDP-implemented infrastructure project in Central Visayas.

The Department of Agriculture, which leads the PRDP, said the 5.9-kilometer FMR worth P48.2 million will benefit about 2,000 farmers and support 1,256 hectares of land planted to rice, corn, coconut, banana, vegetables and rootcrops.

"Farmers will benefit from this project as it will lessen travel time and transport cost in bringing their produce to the market, resulting to better income and opportunities," DA quoted PRDP-Visayas Director Roy Abaya as saying in a statement.

According to DA, the road project connects four barangays: San Agustin, Canmaya Centro, Kagawasan and Canmaya Diot.

Bohol Governor Edgar Chatto said the FMR will also serve as an alternate route for farmers and commuters traveling to and from towns of Danao and Clarin.

Sagbayan was one of the badly hit municipalities during the October 2013 Bohol earthquake.

Gerry Avila, agribusiness chief of DA-Central Visayas, earlier said the construction of the Sagbayan FMR has already started since last month.

The Agriculture agency said that as of August, Bohol has a total of P158.9 million worth of FMR projects approved for PRDP funding.

Meanwhile, the DA and PRDP held the first World Bank Implementation Support Mission of the Visayas Cluster on September 14-16 in Panglao, Bohol. It gathered the project's stakeholders such as provincial governors, local chief executives and farmer beneficiaries from Regions 6, 7 and 8.

The six-year WB-funded PRDP, which started late last year on a nationwide scame, aims to scale up the agriculture industry in the country through infrastructure and enterprise development projects.  (FREEMAN)