LUNA, Apayao – Farmers in lower Apayao can expect to be able to dry their rice harvest and corn with the completion of more Multi-Purpose Drying Pavements (MPDPs) in their area.
According to the Provincial Office of Agricultural Services (POAS), P4,000,000 was allotted for the said endeavor. The fund came from the 20% Provincial Development Fund Allocation 2024 which covers five units of MPDPs.
Governor Elias C. Bulut Jr. mentioned the said need for more drying pavements following his observations as he moved around the province seeing many farmers resort to drying their harvest on roads or makeshift drying pavements in which at times they incur sizable post-harvest losses.
Bulut said with limited government resources, it is imperative that pressing concerns of the public, especially when it involves people’s livelihood, should be prioritized.
Implementing offices like the Provincial Engineering Office (PEO) and Provincial Office of Agricultural Services (POAS), meantime promised, they will assure the quality of construction, expecting the MPDPs will enhance grain quality and lower post-harvest losses for yApayaos Farmers.
Said pavements will give yApayao farmers access to efficient drying and storage facilities where different agricultural crops can be stored and dried.
The drying pavements will have an average dimension of 392 square meters per unit and can dry up to 80-100 bags of palay per batch. The said infrastructure has already been built and constructed in some municipalities of Apayao such as the MPDP in Barangay San Jose- Flora, Barangay San Sebastian- Luna, Barangay Emilia and Swan- Pudtol , and Barangay Malekkeg- Sta. Marcela.
More construction of MPDPs will also be done in Upper Apayao
Apart from lower Apayao MPDPs, the shall likewise be construction of three units Multi-Purpose Drying Pavement (MPDP) with end- shed in the upper section of Apayao. There is a 3 Million allotted budget for the implementation of the construction.
Apart from the construction of relevant and strategic post-harvest facilities of the provincial government to increase farmers’ productivity and profitability, the Agricultural Development Support Program has also allocated P5 million in the improvement of irrigation facilities and P3 million in the Agri-fishery support facilities. By Ginalyn Gapusan
