Two Kadiwa trucks being sent by DA to earthquake-srtriken in Abra
Two "Kadiwa on wheels" trucks loaded with a variety of vegetables are being sent by the Department of Agriculture (DA) to the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) to earthquake-stricken Abra to provide residents with greater access to nutritious food.
“It will be in Abra in the early morning of Friday and will move from one town to the other,” Dr. Cameron Odsey, the DA- CAR director told PNA.
The director claimed that they have already begun working with the Abra provincial government.
The trucks will be used to supply the vegetable needs of San Quintin, Pidigan, Bangued, Tayum, Dolores, Lagangilang, and Bucay towns.
The Benguet Agripinoy Trading Center in La Trinidad is one of the sources of veggies that traders take to the other regions, and he assured that the prices will be the same there as well.
“Mura lang ibebenta kasi wholesale prices ito na BAPTC at walang mark-up na usually napupunta sa traders and transporters kasi DA ang magdadala” Odsey said.
He declared that the truck will travel from town to town on advise of the DA-CAR at the management meeting where they also assessed and planned the programs for the victims of the magnitude 7 earthquake that struck Abra and surrounding provinces on July 27.
“We will follow the guidance of the provincial government as instructed by President Marcos during the situation briefing in Abra this morning [Thursday],” the director said.
Odsey added that they are requesting the release of P148.24 million from the DA's central office.
The Rice Farmers Financial Assistance II (RFFA2) program will use P108. 964 million to provide aid to the 21,158 registered rice and corn farmers in Abra who may have been impacted by the earthquake.
While 8,534 bags of certified and hybrid rice seeds, 225 bags of open-pollinated varieties, 100 packs of diverse lowland vegetables, and the remaining P39,291,012 will be utilized to purchase the fertilizer vouchers that will be sent to 13,202 Abra beneficiaries.
Odsey said that during the assessment and planning, top DA-CAR officials saw the urgent need for farm inputs so that individuals could begin planting or boosting their plants.
“We have not come up with the agricultural damage report because the monitoring and assessment in coordination with the local government units are still ongoing,” Odsey said.
The director also gave the populace assurances that any highland vegetable plantation damage in Abra won't have an impact on the supply being produced and shipped to markets outside the area.
Tags: #RiceandCornfarmers, #DA, #earthquake