In its effort to strengthen the engagement and coordination efforts between the regional office of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the local government units in program implementation, DA-CAR continues to conduct a series of coordination meetings.
In the recent Provincial Coordination Meeting in Bontoc, Mountain Province, OIC-Regional Technical Director for Research Dr. Arlene Sagayo reiterated the importance of coordination meetings as a way to consolidate efforts on how to better implement the programs and projects.
“This meeting acts as a tool that will strengthen our municipal investment plans by supplementing the department with ideas that would align with our plans, aside from serving as a fundamental unit in determining the interventions that the department can provide,” Sagayo said.
The participants consisted of representatives from the provincial and municipal agriculture offices, members of the provincial and municipal legislative offices, provincial and municipal veterinaries offices, and Farmers Cooperatives and Associations (FCA) who were updated on the programs and projects that the department provides.
Representatives of the different divisions of DA-CAR discussed how FCA can access loan intervention programs from the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC), updates on the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA), convergence initiatives on rice clustering, identification of support programs, strengthening collaborative efforts with other agencies of government involved in agriculture, and consolidation program for establishing Farm and Fisheries Clustering towards inclusive agribusiness development in the province among others.
Dr. Sagayo added that provincial coordination meetings also provide an avenue for identifying efficient measures that would help improve the implementation processes of programs and projects of the department.