The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) expects a higher income for ginger and turmeric farmers in Camarines Norte with the help of a new processing facility in Barangay Maulawin, Sta. Elena town.

In an interview on Tuesday, DAR-Camarines Norte information officer Erleen Alvarez said the PHP700,000-worth facility has a processing and kitchen area under the Village-Level Farm-focused Enterprise Development (VLFED) project.

It will benefit 166 members of the Countryside Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Multi-Purpose Cooperative (CARBsMPC).

Sta. Elena contributed PHP300,000 worth of construction materials for the facility and DAR funded the remaining PHP400,000.

“The building facility was turned over last Feb. 29, 2024. We expect the farmers’ income will increase and the products they produce will be more high quality. It will boost the production, mas malinis and maayos na ang produce nila (their produce is cleaner and in order). Their equipment and other processing materials are now in a bigger, secure and safe area,” Alvarez said.

She said DAR teamed up with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), and the municipal government to provide a better means of livelihood and wider market to the farmer-beneficiaries.

The DOST promised to help the CARBsMPC in the facilitation of product analysis and nutritional facts for the instant “salabat” (ginger tea) as a requirement for securing a Food and Drug Administration license to operate.

The DOST also turned over PHP496,000 worth of processing equipment and other materials to CARBsMPC under the Grant-in-Aid program last year.

The DTI, on the other hand, will conduct basic costing and pricing seminars for the products and marketing assistance.

Alvarez said the CARBsMPC previously produced salabat from 10 kilos of ginger per day through manual processing, but because of the different government interventions provided, they can now produce 50 kilos per day. (PNA)