DA earmarks P6.2B for farm roads this year

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is set to spend P6.25 billion for the construction of farm-to-market roads (FMRs) all over the country for 2015.

DA-Field Operations Service director Roy Abaya said “100 percent” of the budget for farm-to-market roads will be used to make roads at least six inches thick and five meters wide, which also part of government’s climate change resiliency program.

Regional agricultural engineering teams from the DA are tasked to monitor FMRs, from planning to implementation, together with partner local government units.

Besides field validation, geotagging is also used in monitoring the FMRs.

Abaya said DA understands what farmers have to go through to bring their produce to the markets, and acknowledges the value of access roads to farmers.

“No matter how aggressive we are on the production side, if carrying the harvest to the market becomes a herculean task for the farmers, the DA’s initiative will be for naught,” Abaya said.

Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala has said one of the big problems of our countrymen is inadequate road network and he is proud that under the Aquino administration, substandard farm-to-market roads became a thing of the past. Riza T. Olchondra