DAR Antique distributes 50T has of land to farmers
SAN JOSE, Antique – The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has distributed a total of 50,448 hectares of lands or 99% out of the total target of 50,540 hectares to 15,547 farmer beneficiaries (FB) in the province from 1993-2008.
Marlyn B. Salvani, Officer In Charge, Provincial Agrarian Reform Officer II of DAR said that they are more focused on organizing and building Agrarian Reform Communities to ensure sustainable development of lands acquired by the agrarian reform beneficiaries through the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
For the first semester of 2008, DAR Antique distributed 148.9552 hectares to 78 farmer beneficiaries. These farmers were awarded land titles consistent with the land distribution requirements of the department. Modes of land distribution for private agricultural lands include Operation Land Transfer, Forclosed Lands of Government Banks, Voluntary Offer to Sell, Land Acquisition, and Voluntary Land Transfer. Government Owned Lands or public lands were also included in the distribution and the Landed Estates.
DAR also reported a total of 17 Agrarian Reform Communities (ARC) organized in 11 municipalities province wide. These ARCs have engaged in micro enterprises with projects that maximized raw materials abundant in their localities. Dubbed as Rural Agro-Industrialization program in the countryside, these ARCs composed of 15,547 FBs are organized into cooperatives that generated an income of about P7.2 million pesos from 1993 to the present and have caused a total employment of 620 persons , 454 of whom are women, said Salvani.
Among the enterprises ventured by these ARCs are Vegetable/Peanut/Food Processing, Loom Weaving, Rice Milling, Confectioneries production, Copra buying, Sugarcane (muscovado) milling and processing, Sawali Making, Squash Processing, and Cottage/Handicraft industries including buri and bariw products. These products have saturated not only the local market but also in other parts of the country and international community through trade fairs and international expositions.
Engr. Jose Diogenes A. Gomez, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Unit Head of DAR in an interview said that aside from enterprise development, DAR also facilitated other services in ARCs such as infrastructure support that promotes access and productivity, credit and microfinance and marketing assistance. (PS Mabaquiao/PIA)