Rice and corn production of 27 farmers’ cooperatives in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Special Geographic Area (BARMM-SGA) is expected to increase after the regional government’s aid of PHP11.9 million worth of various agricultural inputs on Friday.

SGA Development Authority (SGADA) Administrator Butch Malang said the farmer recipients were from the Midsayap cluster.

“The inputs included fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides, ‘palay’ certified seeds, hybrid corn seeds, and support for the livestock industry,” he said in a statement Friday.

A total of 63 villages in six municipalities of North Cotabato province opted to join BARMM during the 2019 two-part regional plebiscite and are now grouped under SGA.

The villages were originally part of the towns of Aleosan, Carmen, Kabacan, Midsayap, Pigcawayan, and Pikit in North Cotabato.

The aid forms part of the livelihood support program, “Oplan Bangsamoro Rapid Assistance (OBRA),” under the “Tulong Alay sa Bangsamorong Nangangailangan” (Tabang) project, a flagship project of BARMM Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim.

It aims to increase rice and corn production of Bangsamoro-SGA farmers, who faced challenges in protecting their crops from pests and floods.

Tabang is scheduled to distribute the same agricultural interventions to 41 cooperatives in Maguindanao del Sur, 41 in Maguindanao del Norte, and 30 in Lanao del Sur.

Karim Mando, one of the recipients, said it was his first time receiving agricultural intervention from the regional government.

“Thank you so much. It feels good to receive aid from BARMM, especially during Ramadan,” the 35-year-old corn farmer said in the vernacular. (PNA)