P19-M grains center to rise in Sultan Kudarat

KORONADAL CITY — Some 5,000 Sultan Kudarat farmers, excluding small-time rice traders and members of 775 farmer-cooperatives, are expected to benefit from a P19-million modern agricultural grains center which will be built in the province.

The grains center is a project of the multi-awarded Maligaya Multipurpose Cooperative (MMPC) based in Lambayong town.

MMPC manager Rodolfo Atadero told The STAR that the center is a cooperative project approved by the Department of Agriculture (DA) and funded under the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (ACEF).

The ACEF is embodied in Republic Act 8178, or the "Agricultural Tariffication Act," put up from in-quota tariffs collected from the importation of minimum access volume agricultural products.

The DA is the one overseeing the ACEF to ensure that the funds go to projects that would help the agricultural and fisheries sectors become globally competitive, viable, efficient and sustainable.

The ACEF is extended to qualified project proponents, like the MMPC, in the form of interest- and collateral-free loans.

Besides the grains center, Atadero said they will help modernize post-harvest facilities, establish an institutionalized marketing program for the farmers, and provide technical assistance and services to cooperative members and non-members as well.