ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews/05 February) – The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) is set to distribute this year 5,940 hectares of land to Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs) here in Region IX.
This year’s target in land distribution is higher by 3,385 hectares compared to the land the DAR regional office distributed last year to ARBs.
Julita Ragandang, DAR regional director, said Thursday that the 5,940 hectares will be distributed to 4,212 ARBs they have identified in the different parts of Region IX.
Ragandang said that 2,741 hectares will be distributed to ARBs in Zamboanga del Norte, 1,605 hectares in Zamboanga Sibugay, and the remaining 1,594 in Zamboanga del Sur.
“The banner program of the DAR is land distribution. This is really the major program that we are undertaking every year. We are pursuing to distribute to the farmer beneficiaries at the different barangays region wide,” Ragandang said.
She said that last year they distributed 2,555 hectares, which was lower by 3,385 hectares compared to this year’s target, to 2,416 ARBs in the region.
Meanwhile, she said that there are 128,000 farmer-beneficiaries of DAR who are members of Agrarian Reform Communities (ARCs) in the region.
She urged the individual farmer-beneficiaries to become members of ARCs in order for them to easily avail of the programs being implemented by DAR.
