DA begins mapping out areas for Marcos admin's farm-to-market roads masterplan

Published July 20, 2022 03:05 PM By TED CORDERO,GMA News

The Department of Agriculture  is identifying priority areas where farm-to-market roads (FMR) will be constructed under President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s masterplan to ensure food security in the country.

“The whole masterplan and the map that we are instructed to develop will reflect the priority production areas and where it will lead to going to the market and taking into consideration the route it will have to take,” DA Undersecretary Kristine Evangelista said at the Laging Handa briefing on Wednesday.

On Monday, the DA said that Marcos — who sits as Agriculture chief — instructed Agriculture officials to come up with the FMR masterplan

which will serve as a guide for the government in promoting food security and empowering rural communities. 

Marcos said the masterplan should include regional maps which will indicate the exact locations of the farm-to-market roads that will be constructed as well as funding source, payment terms, and the time frame for project completion. The FMR will be presented to economic managers.

Evangelista said the DA will discuss with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) the routes for the FMRs to be constructed.

“We have 10 million hectares of agricultural production areas. We are identifying how many kilometers of [FMRs] they will be needing,” she said.

The DA official said the FMR masterplan will be finished “the soonest possible time with proper validation with other government agencies.”

Marcos earlier said that agricultural infrastructure should be climate change–resistant, including in areas that are not prone to landslides and other calamities. —LBG, GMA News

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