DAR Secretary John Castriciones
(DAR / MANILA BULLETIN)
DAR Undersecretary for Support Services Emily Padilla said she had observed in past distribution of relief goods and farm inputs that “some recipients are not actually farmer-beneficiaries.”
The said reports prompted Castriciones to establish the “Kumustasaka at ARBisitahan” program last January 17 to determine the true state of the country’s land reform program after 48 years of its implementation.
The new program seeks to find out who the existing owners of land reform-covered farmlots, the crops planted on them, and the kinds of support services that are needed to enhance farm productivity.
Padilla explained that the Kumustasaka and ARBisitahan program aims to pinpoint the actual farmer-beneficiaries and ensure that all assistance being provided by the DAR would not fall on wrong hands.
(MANILA BULLETIN)
DAR Secretary John Castriciones said the activity, dubbed as “Kumustasaka,” is meant to validate the existing owners, crops planted, and kinds of support services needed to enhance farm productivity.
Castriciones said the Kumustasaka, which is in the pilot-testing stage, seeks to pinpoint the real farmer-beneficiaries to whom the DAR intends to extend much-needed assistance.
“The idea here is to find out if the farmlots that had been distributed to them are still being tilled by them. We also wanted to know their current economic status and what do they need to increase their farm produce and increase their income,” Castriciones said during the farm visit, called “ARBisitahan.”
A lending initiative has been introduced under the Enhanced Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty (EPAHP) program of the government, in partnership with the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), to intensify support for agrarian reform beneficiaries’ organizations (ARBOs) and community-based organiz
Published January 2, 2021, 4:24 PM
An urban vegetable garden established inside the St. John Don Bosco Parish compound in Tondo, Manila will be opened to the public for the first time Sunday, Jan. 3.
Under the “Buhay sa Gulay” (Life in Vegetables) project of the Department of Agrarian Reform’s (DAR), Secretary John Castriciones is inviting the public to join the “pick, harvest, and pay” activity in which customers will be allowed to go around the farm, pick grown vegetables themselves, and pay for their harvests.
Residents of Tondo have planted squash, upo, kangkong, spinach, mustard, and pechay in the vegetable garden.
Castriciones said an 8,000-square meter vacant football field was converted into an urban vegetable garden to plant varieties of vegetables to benefit families and residents of 17 barangays around the parish for the Buhay sa Gulay project that is being implemented by the DAR in partnership with the Don Bosco Parish, Department of Agriculture, and the
(MANILA BULLETIN)
DAR Secretary John Castriciones said a two-hectare land will be the pilot site for the housing project under the “Balai Farmers Housing Program,” a partnership with the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development and other national government agencies.
The proposed P300,000-worth duplex-type housing unit has a 36-square meter floor area, toilet, electrical, and water facilities, as well as tiled floorings and fully painted interior and exterior walls.
“The Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs) will have an opportunity to avail of this quality and affordable housing. Through this project, farmers would be able to have modern and decent houses to boost their morale, which may result to better crop yield, income, and quality of life,” Castriciones said.