DIPOLOG CITY, May
17 (PIA) - - To develop a need assessment tool for the Agrarian Reform
Community Connectivity and Economic Support Services (ARCESS) program of the
Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), the services of the Jose Rizal Memorial
State University (JRMSU) are now being tapped for the purpose.
DAR-Central Office
found JRMSU competent and capable of providing such services after it applied
as an accredited Business Development Service (BDS) provider for ARCESS.
As first
partnership engagement, DAR provincial offices of Zamboanga del Norte and
Zamboanga Sibugay have engaged the services of JRMSU for the conduct of need
assessment of the three agrarian reform communities (ARCs) in Zamboanga del
Norte and another two in Zamboanga Sibugay. These ARCs have approved ARCESS
project proposals.
For Zamboanga del
Norte, ARCESS projects for 2011 included rice mechanization, cacao and abaca
processing.
ARCESS is a program
developed by DAR to achieve economies of scale in agricultural production by
organizing the important facets of land preparation, harvesting, logistics and
marketing in order to reduce the cost of inputs, improve production
efficiencies, and increase productivity and incomes of the agrarian reform
beneficiaries (ARBs).
The program also
considers the capacity, capital and equipment requirements of the different
crops and commodities such as rice, corn, sugar coconut, banana, cassava, fruit
trees and high-yielding crops anchored on two major interventions: the delivery
of business development service to ARB organizations through the deployment of
community-based enterprise organizers (CBEOs) and the provision of farm
equipment and machineries or common service facilities (CSFs) or farm
implements to ARB organizations.
JRMSU has initially
received from DAR P48,000 to start the conduct of the need assessment in the
different ARCs under the ARCESS program.
Each project has an
appropriation of P80,000 and the remaining amount shall be released upon the
completion of its work.
Present in the
turnover of check and issuance of the notice to proceed to JRMSU were Floripes
Lagutin, DAR-IX CARPO for support services division, DAR-ZN PARO II Virgilio
Alcomendras together with PARO I Moh. Dassan J. Adju, CARPO-BDCD Raul J. Sy and
other DAR provincial staff, JRMSU Vice President for Research Dr. Evelyn
Campiseño as well as the faculty and staff of the university’s Dapitan,
Katipunan and Tampilisan campuses. (FPG/AVN/PIA-Zamboanga del Norte)
