The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in North Cotabato has turned over a Php1.3 million worth of hauling truck to an indigenous peoples (IP) cooperative, particularly the B’laan Klayag Amda De Du Sansato ARB (agrarian reform beneficiary) cooperative of Bacong Village, in the town of Tulunan to help them quickly transport their agricultural products to trading centers and markets.
On the average, the B’laan Klayag Amda De Du Sansato ARB Cooperative is delivering 40 tons per month of cardava banana to Liberty Fruits, Inc. situated at barangay Mua-an, Kidapawan City and other various markets.
Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer (PARPO) II Reynaldo Anfone said the delays in the delivery of cardava banana would be greatly minimized, if not totally avoided because of the efficiency of transportation equipment provided by the DAR.
“The provision of hauling truck will surely lessen the transportation cost of the cooperative in bringing their agricultural produce to the market. The cooperative is also expected to earn more by establishing an additional enterprise such as hauling services rental,” Anfone said.
The hauling truck was implemented through The PaSSOver: ARBold Move for Deliverance of ARBs from the COVID-19 Pandemic project in response to the urgent need to come up with timely and effective mechanisms to enable and provide the ARBs the needed assistance and support in this time of crisis.
Coop Project Manager Cesar Masili said for several years of their business implementation, they were always confronted with delays during delivery because most of the time, the hauling trucks they were renting arrived late, thus, wasting so much of their time.
“Now that the hauling truck is here, we already have the control with the delivery schedule and we could spend more time in our farm,” Masili said.
On the other hand, PARPO I Charish Paña advised the beneficiary organization and its members to create a committee that would look after the maintenance and monitoring of the hauling truck to ensure its functionality for a long time.
The IP cooperative is engaged in cardava banana trading since 2016 after the DAR-Catholic Relief Service project dubbed as “Linking Smallholder Farmers to Market” was implemented in the area.
