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Archives
March 1-31, 2007
CPAR consultation in 10 poorest provinces kicks-off in Masbate
by Ellaine Grace L. Nagpala
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| (Top photo) Mr. Tito Z. Arevalo (right) gives Masbate Mayor Socrates M. Tuazon a walkthrough about the CPAR project. (Bottom photo) Mr. Arevalo (right) consults with farmers during the site visit in Brgy. Malinta, Masbate City. |
Masbate, situated in the Bicol region, is among the poorest provinces identified by the National Statistics Coordination Board in 2000. Of Masbate’s population, 62.8 percent is below the poverty threshold. This means that in 2000, only 37.2 percent of Masbate s total population had the capacity to attain the province s minimum level of income, which was 11,488 PhP, to be able to have an adequate standard of living.
To alleviate the problem on poverty, the Department of Agriculture through the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR), has focused its R&D initiatives to the poorest provinces of the country. In this regard, the Community-based Participatory Action Research (CPAR) project of BAR will be implemented in the 10 poorest provinces in the country, including Masbate.
The implementation of the CPAR project for Masbate commenced with a project consultation on March 19-22. A consultation team composed of five representatives from BAR and one from Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) visited the province on the said dates.
On the first day of the activity, a planning-workshop for the finalization of CPAR project proposal and memorandum of agreement (MOA) was held at the Masbate Breeding Station in Asid, Masbate City.
In the morning, a briefing on the overview of CPAR was conducted for the participants from the different offices from the Bicol Integrated Agricultural Research Center (BIARC), Regional Fisheries Research and Development Center, Research Outreach Station- Masbate, and provincial and municipal local government units including the barangay captains and farmer-leaders in the locality.
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| CPAR team during the consultation-workshop planning with the farmers. |
A validation on the result of the existing participatory rural appraisal (PRA) and the identification of priority activities and areas of collaboration followed later that day. A PRA previously drafted by the local government of Masbate on 2005 includes the previous selection of priority areas which covered barangays Asid and Malinta in Masbate City and barangays Bacolod and Cayabon in Milagros town. A site validation on the selected areas and a meeting with the farmers and local officials in each barangay was done on the second and third day.
The following were the necessary activities identified for the selected barangays: training on organic farming, nursery management, enterprise development, technology demonstration; improvement on the package of technologies on corn and vegetables; and enhancement of products and by-products of fruits and vegetables. Implementation of the project will start after the finalization of the MOA followed by the release of appropriate funds.
To further realize the identified activities for the province, it was agreed that the local government officials, particularly the mayor of Masbate City and the administrator of Milagros, will provide counterpart support such as deployment of agricultural technicians in the project site, provision of training venue and demonstration farms given that the projects to be implemented will complement the area’s existing programs. Meanwhile, ATI pledged to assist in training management, preparation of information, education and communication materials, provide resource persons and venue while BIARC will provide technical assistance needed. 
March 1-31 2007 Articles:
:: CPAR consultation in 10 poorest provinces kicks-off in Masbate
:: Sec. Yap signs AO for CPAR implementation
:: Yap encourages vegetable industry towards profit and market promotion
:: Corn RDE sets directions and priorities for the next 5 years
:: PhilRice conducts training on producing crop suitability maps
:: BAR Assistant Director Solsoloy keynotes URS graduation
:: Increasing the intellectual property rights awareness
:: IP Management Seminar establishes partnership
:: 3rd BAR Seminar Series highlights modern biotechnology
:: BAR to restructure weak framework in Philippine agri
:: On promoting exportable agricultural products
:: International funding agency consults BAR on possible tie-up
:: OPAPA launches e-Learning program for AFNR sector
:: Setting R&D directions for community of practice
:: Establishing solid innovation policy for effective R&D technology transfer
:: BAR staff members attend e-gov project management seminar
:: JICA Philippines conducts workshop on agriculture/fishery technology development and extension
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