BAGUIO CITY – The Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) will further boost the Kalinga coffee industry through the ongoing farm to market road project (FMR) in Tabuk City, Kalinga. Kalinga provincial agriculturist Engr. Domingo Bakilan, said the 15.8-kilometer Bulanao-Amlao farm-to-market road worth P180 million is now 85 percent complete. He said once completed, it will support the coffee industry in the province as well as putting an end to the long-time problem suffered by the local residents in transporting people, goods and products to and from the market. Along with the FMR, the Kalinga Coffee Trading Center (KCTC) in Barangay Bulanao, Tabuk City will also be turned over to six farmer cooperatives as proponent groups (PG) of the Kalinga Integrated Coffee Processing and Marketing Enterprise, a subproject under the PRDP’s I-REAP (Enterprise Development) component. The trading center will be used for the consolidation and marketing of coffee green beans produced by cooperative members. Jocelyn Beray, PRDP Regional Project Coordination Office – CAR I-REAP component head, said before the year ends they hope to turn over all the goods and processing equipment needed for the operation of the enterprise and the KCTC in time for the next harvest season. (Zaldy Comanda)
