Libreng lupa! DAR offers 3-hectare farmlot to new agriculture graduates

By Prince Golez

Fresh graduates of agricultural courses would each receive three hectares of farmlot to enable them to have a good start and practice their profession on their respective farms, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) said.

In a press release, Agrarian Reform Secretary Brother John Castriciones expressed confidence that agriculture graduates would harness the farmlots given to each of them since these would serve as their “farm laboratories.”

This incentive, Castriciones added, will also serve as “an impetus for the attainment of the country’s food security.”

The three-hectare offer is meant to encourage the youth to embrace farming to reinforce the ageing sector, wherein the average age of some 11 million Filipino farmers is 57, according to him.

Citing the Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Training Institute, the DAR chief said the Philippines may face a shortage of farmers in 15 years if the trend continues.

“This is our response to this critical issue. We need to encourage the youth to engage in farming to keep the country’s food security on course,” he said.

Castriciones earlier led the distribution of Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOAs) to agrarian reform beneficiaries right at their dooresteps in Barangay Bantay, Boac, Marinduque.

The “DAR-to-Door” strategy of distributing the CLOAs is in line with President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive of fast tracking and finishing the land acquisition and distribution of farmlands on or before his term ends in June 2022.

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