DAR secretary lauds increase of beneficiaries in Eastern Visayas

MARABUT, SAMAR, Philippines — OIC-Secretary Rosalina Bistoyong of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) was impressed on how the various agrarian reform beneficiary organizations (ARBOs) in Eastern Visayas rise four years after super typhoon Yolanda devastated this region.

Bistoyong said she was amazed by the income earned by the Legaspi Fishermen and Farmers Association (LEFFA) since 2015 as reflected in the report by the group’s production board during her recent visit to selected ARBOs in Leyte and Samar.

LEFFA told the secretary the group’s income on vermicast production (organic waste processing) alone reached more than ?200,000 during the period. The coastal town of Marabut in Samar, where the group is based, was among the hardest hit areas by Yolanda.

As a result, the DAR chose LEFFA members to be among the 100 recipients of shredder machines, and African night crawlers (ANCs)—a species of earthworms for vermicomposting—and provided trainings to agrarian reform beneficiaries for them to start a livelihood and recover from the Yolanda devastation.

After the tragedy, having been left with nothing, members of LEFFA took advantage of all the assistance pouring in from various government agencies and non-government organizations (NGOs).

The shredding machine, the 30 kilos of ANCs and the training on how to produce ANCs, vermicasts and vermi-tea helped them generate income and rise from the devastation, according to LEFFA Chairman Benderito Dacuno.

From the initial five vermi-beds in 2015, LEFFA now has 18 and, at ?10 per kilo of vermicast, Dacuno said this organic fertilizer is very in demand among farmers, gardeners and even NGOs. They also earned from organic vegetable production and rental of common service facilities such as tractors and threshers they received from DAR, he added.

Happy over the result of the assistance extended by DAR, Bistoyong also promised to give, before the year ends, LEFFA a truck, which she said the ARBOs can use in their business operation. She also promised to expose them to more livelihood trainings such as dairy product production.

Bistoyong later challenged LEFFA to reach the ?1-million mark in vermicast production. Currently, LEFFA is also into relending activities, rice trading, fish pond operation, carabao dispersal, and catering services. (FREEMAN)