Some 125 banana and abaca farmers in the Caraga Region benefited from the PHP3 million worth of farm inputs released by the regional Department of Agriculture (DA-13) office through its Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) program.

The farm inputs were dispensed to five farmers’ associations (FAs) from the provinces of Agusan del Norte and Surigao del Norte in a series of distribution activities that ended Thursday.

“The inputs were in time for the land preparation activities of the groups before the delivery of their planting materials later this month,” the DA-13 SAAD said in a statement Friday.

Two of the FAs are from Remedios T. Romualdez town in Agusan del Norte, and three others—two from Sison, and one from Tagana-an, are in Surigao del Norte.

The five FAs are among the 28 groups assisted by the DA-13 in the region through the program. The farm inputs included pesticides, fertilizers, farm tools, and knapsack sprayers.

Members of the five FAs underwent organizational development and technical training in banana and abaca production before the release of the farming inputs. (PNA)