by Jose Jemuel B. Dael

AGUSAN DEL SUR (June 26) -- Farmers in Agusan del Sur enjoy the benefit of the new program called rice consolidation center, which aims to assist the farmers in selling their farm products.

Provincial Agriculturist Max Gegato said that farm products are sold in bulks to big businessmen in Butuan, Monkayo, Tagum and Digos Cities and municipality of San Francisco, Agusan del Sur.

He said that this is just one of the approaches to mitigate hunger by increasing the income of farmers through acting as mediators between the farmers and the buyers in marketing the farmers’ products.

Gegato said that farmers in Lapaz, now in second cropping, and in San Francisco, Esperanza and trento have observed that there is 30-50 centavos increase per kilo in the prices of their products as compared before the government intervention.

He added that the assistance is for free and it is the provincial government thru the Provincial Agriculture Office who made the plan in partnership with the Municipal Agriculture offices.

Gegato said that under the program, farmers haul their products in one accessible place while Agriculture Office Personnel contact the prospective buyers. The negotiations take place with the AO personnel as mediator until both parties reached a fair buying price with fewer kilos per sack deductions.

Gegato disclosed that because of the program, he observed that local buyers also offered good prices to farmers to compete with the direct buyers coming from outside the province.