MAFAR REACHEAS OUT TO HUNDREDS OF RICE FARMERS IN KIBAYAO, CARMEN
Five hundred and fifty (550) bags of certified rice seeds were given by MAFAR to drought-affected rice farmers in Kibayao, Carmen, one of the 63 barangays of North Cotabato that are now officially under the BARMM.
The ceremonial distribution was conducted yesterday (February 13, 2020) at the Office of the MalMar Federation of Irrigators’ Association in Kibayao, attended by officials from MAFAR, Carmen Agriculture Office, NIA-12, League of Bangsamoro Organizations (LBO), and the farmer-members of the Irrigator’s Associations (IAs).
Attended by hundreds of farmers, the activity coincided with the IA General Assembly Meeting with BARMM where the certificate of membership to LBO was awarded to the federation of farmers by President Hashim B. Manticayan.
Representing Minister Dr Mohammad S. Yacob, Ammal D. Solaiman, Assistant to the Minister for Policy, Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation, said the seeds were supposedly to be given out the next month. She added that however, with the result of the area monitoring and verification conducted by the Rice Program Team of MAFAR led by Focal Person Tong A. Abas, it was known that the people in the area have already prepared their farmlands for planting, reason enough to deliver the rice seeds. “This shows how important you are to us, to BARMM”, said Solaiman.
Engr. Saleh P. Kabunto, Principal Engineer of NIA-Maridagao River Irrigation System (MRIS), said the MalMar Irrigation services more than 6000 hectares in the barangays of Carmen and Pikit in North Cotabato and it also caters Datu Montawal and Pagalungan in Maguindanao.
Meanwhile, Engr. Saldi P. Serafino, Manager of NIA-Cotabato Irrigation Management Office, advised the farmer members of the IAs to make their associations strong, cohesive, and viable and he also reminded them to ensure their application for condonation to be discharged from their irrigation payments.
With the assistance they received from MAFAR, Butch F. Basalon, Federation President, urged his co-farmers to unite, value and maximize what they received from the BARMM.
The activity also became a venue for the farmers to be clarified with their farming issues and concerns that included registration as seedgrowers so they can sell their produce to MAFAR, viability of their cooperatives and associations as farmers, profiling or registry that requires their land title or tax declaration, and proposal preparation to avail of more assistance from the ministry, among others.
Focal Person Abas and Dr Macmod M. Mamalangcap, MAFAR Coordinator for the 63 barangays in North Cotabato, handled the open forum by properly and comprehensively answering the queries of the farmers.
Aimed at adding more technical knowledge among the farmer-recipients, the MAFAR, through its information division, distributed hundred of copies of techno-bulletins on rice seed production techno-bulletins and brochures on useful and harmful insect pests of rice.
According to Focal Person Abas, the distributed rice seeds were from the buffer stock procured under 2019 Rice Program funds from the Department of Agriculture Central Office. He also said that 50 bags of rice seeds were also delivered to farmers in Barangay Nanga-an, Kabacan, North Cotabato.