TIGAON, Camarines Sur, April 7 (PNA) -- With its development agenda deeply anchored on agriculture, this far-flung municipality at the inner northeast section of Bikol has set its goal towards becoming the premier agribusiness center of the region.
The municipality is presently under the stewardship of Mayor Arnulf Bryan Fuentebella, the 33-year old son of congressman and former House Speaker Noli Fuentebella and grandson of the late Camarines Sur Governor Felix Fuentebella.
Although a holder of a degree in Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from the University of the Philippines, the mayor had keen interest in agriculture reason which is why his administration gives premium to agricultural projects cognizant of the reality that majority of his constituents of a total of about 50,000 are dependent on it.
Apart from being a major rice producer, this municipality that sits on a 10,988-hectare of land area between the coastline of the Eastern Pacific shore and the gently rolling slopes of the legendary Mt. Isarog has one of the biggest corn plantations in the region.
It also boasts of a large area planted to high value commercial crops like coffee, pineapple and fruit trees. It used to have a vast abaca plantation that the local government wanted to revive.
"We are taking advantage of the wide resources and ample opportunities that we have as we put our stake on agriculture that is indeed worth investing due to its big return, the mayor said on Tuesday.
He said one of the major projects in agriculture being undertaken by the local government is the processing of Bio-N mixing plant fertilizer with the laboratory it has established in 2005 through a funding assistance given by the Department of Agriculture (DA).
It is plant growth enhancer in powder form that serves as a great help especially for corn growers as the nitrogen fertilizer requirement is lowered by 50 percent, said project in charge Lea Beltran.
"We produce Bio-N in a commercial scale and it has proven very profitable. Aside from supplying it to our farmers at a very minimal cost, the DA has been buying the growth enhancer from us that it uses as a component of the government's rice and corn productivity program," Beltran said.
Cooperatives, other local government units (LGUs) and individual farmers who have known the benefits of this microbial plant growth enhancer have also been buying it from the town's manufacturing center, she added.
Beltran explained that the cost of production for a packet of 200 grams Bio-N is P25 and the current selling price is P60 per packet giving a substantial profit margin of P35.
"Indeed, the Bio-N center has become a money-maker for the municipality and more orders are coming from other parts of the country including the 10,000 packets ordered recently by the LGU of Gen. Santos City. As bigger volume has to be produced so we expanded our laboratory," she added.
Mayor Fuentebella said, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has approved a grant of P.5M for the upgrading of the facilities and the purchase of a new hammer mill and additional laboratory equipment.
The agriculture office in the municipality has also come up with another project.
Being a major corn producing municipality, the mayor said, corn cobs that usually are garbage are now being converted into charcoal using a simple carbonizing drum.
Some of the charcoal produced are used for making Bio-N and the rest are made into charcoal briquettes used as fuel for cooking and which also gives additional income to the people.
Some municipal personnel were also sent by the mayor to General Santos City to train on cornhusk-based handicraft making which could be a source of income for the rural women.
Those who were trained are now also training the women in the municipality how to turn corn by products into novelty items like dolls, flowers and decors.
The LGU of Tigaon also ventured into certified palay seeds production in tandem with the DA, Partido Development Administration (PDA), Office of Rep. Fuentebella and the five other mayors of the third district of Camarines Sur.
This municipality has put a counterpart fund of P67,950 and supplemented by a congressional fund of the congressman worth P171,000 for labor cost for a five- hectare production area .
Seeds produced from this project will be used to support the seed requirement of the municipality, the mayor said.
The LGU has also submitted a proposal to the National Agribusiness Corporation (NABCOR) for the establishment of the grain drying center which will be of great help to the farmers.
Recently 32 farmers completed a 16-week farmers field school on vegetable production. The LGU has loaned out vegetable seeds of their choice to the farmers who completed the training. A demonstration farm for vegetable production has been established.
This municipality is also establishing a grain center now being evaluated by the DA a "Barangay Bagsakan Center" under the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (ACEF).
Enhancement of agricultural production of the farmers by putting in place the necessary intervention and infrastructure support like provision of mechanical dryers, improvement and repair of irrigation systems and installation of shallow tube wells are among the projects lined up by the municipality.
This plan jibes well with the DA's current thrust of focusing on hard infrastructure or "hard ticket" projects which according to DA secretary Arthur Yap have greater and lasting impact on the over -all agricultural development. (PNA)