The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) distributed farm tractors, irrigation facilities, and start-up capital, worth about P5 million each, to 13 block farms in Negros Occidental at the SRA office in Bacolod City Oct. 4.
The assistance is funded under the Sugar Industry Development Act allocation in the 2024 General Appropriations Act.
SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona said the mandate of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is to help the farmers, considered by the administration as “bagong bayani (new heroes)”.
“It is only now that the SRA and the Department of Agriculture got the biggest push from the President,” he added.
Of the P5 million assistance for each block farm, P1.950 million comprises the start-up capital intended mainly for land preparation and fertilizer.
The remaining amount covers at least P2 million for each unit of a farm tractor, irrigation equipment, and other facilities.
“Block farms are close to my heart because I know that if you manage it well, you will be able to grow your farms and make it big,” Azcona told the beneficiaries.
The 13 block farms include the Purok Katubuhan Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Association (ARBA), Sitio Tres Eles ARBA, Canlandog ARBA, Violeta Integrated Farmers Association, Telim Malatas Agrarian Reform Cooperative (ARC), Hacienda Amelita ARBA, Hacienda Sto. Niňo United Farm Workers Association, Hacienda Lilia 2 ARC, Sol Small Farmers Association, Hacienda Anita ARC, Hacienda Bongco ARC, and the Macarandan Upland Farmers and Farm Workers Association, all in Negros Occidental, and the Banat Bai Farmers Association in Negros Oriental.
Roger Regalado, chairman of Hacienda Sto. Niňo United Farm Workers Association, based in Barangay Tortosa, Manapla, Negros Occidental, said they have about 33 hectares placed under the block farm program.
“I’m really glad of this assistance from the SRA. This would be a big help to our association. We thank the SRA that we avail of these projects,” he added.
The SRA has been encouraging small farmers to form cooperatives to pursue block farming, comprised of 30 hectares to 50 hectares, considering that, of the 390,000 hectares of sugar plantations in the country, 90 percent belongs to farmers owning at least one hectare to two hectares of land.
Under the block farm program, sugarcane production is seen to increase by five tons to 10 tons per hectare.
Nationwide, the SRA has organized 261 block farms, totaling 10,600 hectares, which already received about P1.4 billion in assistance. | PNA
