NORALA, South Cotabato — Following the initial launch of its flagship agricultural initiative, the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPAg) South Cotabato expanded the consolidated rice mechanization program into Barangay Esperanza, Norala through the conduct of social preparation and orientation session among local farmers.
The first orientation session aimed to align the mindset of the farmers and instill strong moral values like communal unity or bayanihan prior to technical implementation.
Speaking directly to the farmers, Provincial Agriculturist Dr. Raul D. Teves emphasized that long-term food security requires strategic storage, shared values, and communal resource management.
“In the Bible, during the seven years of famine, the people survived because they prepared and stored their grain in silos. We must apply that same principle through consolidating our yield, managing post-harvest reserves, and releasing supply during lean periods, we stabilize market prices and ensure food security for all.” Dr. Teves shared.
Under the program guidelines, local farmer associations in Barangay Esperanza will merge into a single cooperative covering an initial production area of 30-50 contiguous hectares.
Once organized, participating farmers will adopt standardized practices, including high-yielding hybrid seeds, mechanized farming, synchronized harvesting schedule, and integrated value-chain processing.
The rollout in Norala follows a similar social preparation activity conducted in other municipalities as the provincial government through the leadership of Governor Reynaldo S. Tamayo, Jr. continues to scale up its cooperative-led agricultural model across the province.
