TACLOBAN CITY –- Farmers’ products from different parts of Eastern Visayas generated more than a hundred thousand pesos in sales during the two-day Agraryo Trade Fair held last week at the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) compound.

Chief of the Program Beneficiaries Development Division, Melecia Ong, disclosed that the trade fair, with the theme “Produktong Benepisyaryo tungo sa malawak na Merkado,” generated a combined sales of P116,332 for products of agrarian reform beneficiaries’ organizations (ARBOs) alone.

She said that sales generated by private entrepreneurs who joined the trade fair were excluded. According to the organizer, the private entrepreneurs garnered a cumulative sale of more than P40,000.

Ong shared that most of the ARBOs products, from fresh fruits and vegetables to processed foods, were sold out.

On processed foods, Ong proudly shared that 13 ARBOs in Region 8 were already given licenses to operate by the Food and Drug Administration commonly referred to as FDA-LTO; while one product was issued with the certificate of product registration, making them qualified to penetrate a larger market.

“We are showcasing here the results of all the interventions we provided to the agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) under CARP’s (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program) provision of support services component,” said DAR Regional Director Robert Anthony Yu in his message at the opening of the trade fair.

Provincial Director Ruthelma Samonte of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) was very proud of the farmers’ products and their achievement in sales.

“They are no longer farmers by themselves, but we call them CARPreneurs or CARP entrepreneurs, which means, they are already into business,” Samonte said.

She advised DAR during the said occasion to prepare the farmers and their products for a bigger market.

“The ARBOs must be prepared in terms of production. With institutional buyers, they must be ready with the supply,” Samonte added.

DTI is among DAR’s partner agencies in providing the necessary assistance thereby transforming ARBs into farmer entrepreneurs.

Representatives from the Department of Agriculture and Department of Science and Technology, Francisco Ocado and Lysander King III, respectively, committed their agency’s continued support to help the ARBOs develop potential products as an additional livelihood to their farming activities. (DAR)