The Department of Agriculture in Davao Region (DA-11) has assured to give ample assistance to the 789 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in the region following the awarding to them of land titles last week.

“Now that they are the rightful owner of their lands, the support of DA continues particularly in production support,” Marila Corpuz, DA-11 technical director for operations, said in an interview Monday.

Corpuz said the production support consists of agricultural supplies such as seeds and seedlings, among others.

On July 7, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR-11) awarded electronic titles to the ARBs under the agency’s Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling or Project SPLIT that covers some 1,017 hectares involving several landholdings in the different provinces of the region.

“If they have a big land for corn or rice, we can give them farm machinery and equipment through the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PHilMech),” Corpuz said.

DA-11 has long been providing assistance to ARB Organizations (ARBOs) that wanted to venture into swine, poultry and goat raising, she said.

Since last year, Corpuz said 29 out of the 44 ARBOs in the region benefited from the Integrated National Swine Production Initiatives for Recovery and Expansion (INSPIRE) program.

INSPIRE aims to help the country’s swine industry recover by increasing hog production and ensuring the availability, accessibility and affordability of pork and pork products.

“If they request for the program, DA-11 will validate them and if they passed the assessment, they will get PHP5.5 million worth of assistance to boost their swine production initiatives,” she said. (PNA)