“WE,RE happy because we won’t be bothering our neighbors anymore.”

Thus, said one of the 20 farmer-beneficiaries after recieving his new farm gear from Bukidnon’s trade and industry department.

Like most of the residents in one of the far-flung villages in Talakag Bukidnon, farming has been the way of life for these beneficiaries.

It was a warm Tuesday, these farmers endured the scorching heat and lined up under the DTI Bukidnon booth to receive their much-awaited knapsack sprayers as beneficiaries of the Livelihood Seeding Program-Pangkabuhayan sa Pagbangon at Ginhawa (LSP-PBG).

“Sukad pa sauna, pananom, mao na ang panarbaho,” said one of the beneficiaries following he recieved the farming material, adding that sometimes they won’t let them borrow and even won’t let them rent.

Cassava, sweet potato, string beans and bitter gourd were just among the fresh produce they have been cultivating not just for their own consumption but also for sale in neighboring barangays, including Talakag public market.

While this may look like a comfortable routine, the farmers have their own setbacks with lack of fertilizer as the main issue. This limits their farming activity, leading them to rent knapsack sprayers from their neighbors for P100 per day to help curb their concern.

Their patience and continuous dedication of their farming livelihood eventually paid off as the twenty beneficiaries received their own knapsack sprayers from DTI Bukidnon during the regional launching of the Poverty Reduction, Livelihood and Employment Cluster (PRLEC) in Sitio Kibulag, Barangay Lantud, Talakag, Bukidnon on June 30, 2020.

PRLEC is a cluster formed under the government’s Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (TF-ELCAC) in order to achieve the whole-of-nation approach to end insurgency, which is stipulated in Executive Order No. 70 of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Aside from receiving the farm equipment, the beneficiaries also underwent an entrepreneurship seminar.

Another batch of beneficiaries are scheduled to undergo an entrepreneurial mind-setting and organic farming seminar to be conducted by DTI provincial office in partnership with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA)-Bukidnon to increase their knowledge on new farming techniques and technologies.

The remaining beneficiaries will also be provided with livelihood starter kits after the series of seminars. (Recthie Toleniro with PIA Bukidnon)