Hundreds of families benefit from ARMM seed dispersal project

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines - Hundreds of Teduray families have benefited from the continuing corn and vegetable seeds dispersal project of the agriculture department of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Khadiguia Rakman-Abdullah, a senior information and communications staff of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) in the autonomous region, on Saturday said their regional secretary, Makmod Mending Jr., personally led the distribution last Wednesday of the seeds to Teduray peasants in Barangay Limpongo in Datu Hofer, Maguindanao.

Barangay Limpongo is located at the hinterland tri-boundary of Maguindanao’s Datu Hofer, Shariff Aguak, and South Upi towns, a centuries-old tribal settlement of non-Muslim Teduray highland people, whose main source of income is farming.

The seed distribution initiative was part of the DAF-ARMM’s “Armas laban sa Kahirapan” thrust, which is focused on the delivery of agricultural services directly to beneficiary-communities in far-flung areas of the autonomous region.

Abdullah said Mending, speaking on behalf of ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman, had promised the Teduray farmers an engine-driven corn shelling machine in the next tranche of agricultural inputs intended for Barangay Limpongo.

The DAF-ARMM has actively been helping extend technical interventions to Teduray communities in Maguindanao to improve their productivity and ensure abundance of food in their homes.