Bikol Farmers Get P3.7-M from RP-Spain Project

CASTILLA, Sorsogon, April 5  - The Department of Agriculture (DA), aided with a P3.7-million grant from the Spanish government, has introduced a coconut coir processing and marketing project to a farmers' cooperative here that is considered a new profitable venture aimed at adding value to existing economic activities in the rural areas.

Funded by the Agencia de Cooperation International para el Desarullo (AECID) of the Spanish government, the project would facilitate technology adoption and resource utilization by way of processing facilities established and provided for the Castilla Development Cooperative (CADECO) based in Barangay San Rafael of this lowly agricultural town.

Ireneo Din, chairman of the CADECO board of directors, said during the turn-over rites of the project in the village over the week that this new venture will serve as a multiplier to the existing economic activities of the cooperative composed of 350 members of which 98 percent are coconut and rice farmers.

CADECO is a 22-year-old farmers' cooperative which, through those years, was able to acquire over P8 million assets due to the strong participation and cooperation among its members, he said.

It is engaged in palay and rice trading and also earns through rice dying and milling services offered at its vast compound at the same barangay, he added.

With the establishment of the coco coir processing project, Din expressed optimism that more farmers will benefit from the project as coconut husks that are just left to rot in the field after copra making can now can be converted to cash.

DA Regional Executive Director Marilyn Sta. Catalina said during the turn-over ceremonies that the success of CADECO could be traced from the eager support extended by all its officers and members to the cooperative's economic activities.

"Its officers really labored hard to steward the group into success and we are thankful that CADECO had become one of the only few cooperatives making good in their economic activities," she said.

Sta. Catalina stressed that on the part of the DA, priority is given to organized cooperatives with good track record in choosing beneficiaries to projects like this coconut coir processing.

She urged the cooperative to continue to serving the farmers in the entire municipality and even the neighboring villages of adjacent towns as the DA regional chief lauded the efforts of the group's officers for their continuous assistance and hard work to keep the cooperative afloat.

She acknowledged the cooperative's intelligent use of the 1,000-square-meter flatbed dryer established at the CADECO compound because record shows it was able to generate additional income of P42,000 from drying palay alone.

Sta. Catalina also disclosed that the AECID-funded projects are benefiting 32 beneficiaries throughout the Bikol region.

These projects are income generating and with the right technology and marketing assistance being extended to the beneficiaries, all it need is proper management to be successful, she said.

The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) is helping the project in terms of technology transfer and management, she added.

One plus factor to these coconut coir processing venture given to farmers' cooperatives in the region is the ready market provided by a private enterprise that deals with the product for both domestic and export uses, Sta. Catalina said.

JUBOKEN Enterprises with buying stations in all Bikol areas provided with coconut coir processing facilities through the DA-AECID projects had already forged a marketing contract with CADECO.

The processing facilities are equipped with coconut coir sheds, decorticating machines, bailing machines, electric pumps and hauling trucks. (PNA)