Fertile Ground

DA provides aid to Batanes fisherfolk

Through the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), Department of Agriculture (DA) will construct a cold storage facility for the local fisherfolk of Batanes.

At the launch of the Community Fish Landing Center in Uyugan, Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol said that the department will provide credit assistance to six municipalities of the province. The loan will be under the Agricultural Credit Policy Council, and it will be used to build six ice-making plants.

“Maraming isda sa Batanes pero kulang sila sa ice plant at walang storage para sa kanilang mga huli,” Piñol said during his visit to the island province on May 8, 2018.

According to Piñol, the loan is payable in eight years with two percent interest per annum.

The ice plants will operate on solar-powered generators and are expected to be more modernized than existing facilities.

Also during his visit to Batanes, the agri chief turned over to the provincial government 100 units of boat-making materials that cost P300,000 per boat.

“We will provide the materials to the fishermen and we will let them design their own boats based on the climatic requirement of your area,” Piñol said.

The DA secretary also urged local executives to establish a food consolidation area, which will complement the food boats, which will travel across the country to collect the produce of farmers and fisherfolk in distant provinces and bring these products to the metropolis area.

Piñol also said that Undersecretary for Fisheries Eduardo B. Gongona will be coordinating with the Navotas shipping company to design two food boats that are set to sail next year.

via Department of Agriculture

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