DAR program to benefit 2 P’sinan towns;

The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) is making significant inroads in modernizing agriculture in agrarian reform areas in the country under its innovative Magkabalikat sa Kaunlarang Agraryo or Magkasaka program, with the municipalities of Tayug and Asingan in Pangasinan as the latest beneficiaries.

Agrarian Reform Secretary Horacio Morales Jr. said the DAR’s farm modernization program is scoring gains, especially in corn production areas like Tayug and Asingan where a viable partnership between agrarian reform beneficiaries and the Zamboanga Development and Management Corp. (ZMDC) had been forged, with the DAR providing technical support.

He said the ZMDC started operating last month, providing mechanized harvesting services to agrarian reform beneficiaries, farmers and small landowners in Asingan and Tayug.

Morales said a memorandum of understanding was signed last February by ZMDC president George Azeniero, Roneo Lilagan, chairman of the Federation of Lower Agno River Totonogen River System Irrigators’ Association, and Francisco Mingrajal, chairman of the Federation of Cooperatives in the New Millennium, for the collaborative promotion of farm modernization, farm systems’ development and coordination of farming operations in Asingan and Tayug.

The ZMDC also entered into a related MOU with the municipalities of Asingan and Tayug, Morales added.

ZMDC is committed to help and support the federations in the capability-building of their members through technical skills training and other development programs.

The federations, on the other hand, committed 1,000 hectares for contract harvesting with ZMDC starting with this year’s harvest.

ZMDC brings to Tayug and Asingan farmers its expertise as the principal proponent of the P614-million mechanized grains production and processing project in Mindanao under a joint venture with agrarian reform beneficiaries in Zamboanga del Norte, South Cotabato and Sarangani.

The P614-million investment for the project is being provided through a loan granted by the Bayerische Hypo-und Vereinsbank (HVB), Germany’s second largest bank.