The Department of Agriculture awarded on Friday, November 17, outstanding cluster organizations that have supported the development of the corn and cassava industries in the country under the Corn Cluster Management Excellent Awards (CCMEA).
Topping the 2023 CCMEA awardees is the Mantibugao Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Farmers’ Cooperative (MARBFC), of Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon headed by its Chairman Evangeline Frasco. MARBFC, which was organized in 1991, is the longest serving cooperative in the municipality and has adopted DA’s clustering approach to ensure sustainable yield and a guaranteed market.
Also from Manolo Fortich is this year’s champion under the Cassava Cluster Management Excellent Awards, headed by its Chairperson Mr. Dante Dasayco. Organized in 1994, the Bliss Lingion Multipurpose Cooperative (BLMC), has continued to serve its farmer-members to help them improve production and earn bigger income.
A total of Seven Million Seven Hundred Thousand Pesos (P7,700,000.00) worth of cash prizes were awarded to the MARBFC, Bliss and four other awardees which will be used for agricultural development projects such as farm inputs, farm equipment/machinery and postharvest facilities. ### (Photos by Adonis Buhayan, DA-AFID)
