A memorandum of understanding was entered into by some institutions and private groups in cooperation with the Department of Agrarian Reform in Bacolod City yesterday that will provide different technologies to boost the produce of Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries in Negros Occidental.

The MOU was signed by U.P. Los Banos chancellor Fernando Sanchez, North Negros State College of Science and technology President Romulo Sisno, R.U. Foundry shop owner Ramon Uy, Sr, DAR Regional Director Stephen Leonidas and DAR Secretary Virgilio Delos Reyes at the May's Organic garden.

Under the MOU, R.U. Foundry, in partnership with the Eco-Agri Foundation, UP and NONESCOST, will provide community-based organic fertilizer production technology, solar homes systems for areas with no electricity yet and solar based pumping system intended for irrigation

Aladino Moraca, executive manager of EAF, a non-profit organization that has partnered with R.U. Foundry in programs supporting farmers in Negros Occidental, said the MOU also urges the farmers who will benefit from these technologies not to sell or lease the land distributed to them by DAR.

Moraca said the farmers are also asked to plant fruit trees in their areas, shift to organic farming, and help DAR and the Department of Agriculture in promoting it.

He said the MOU will also open opportunities for farmers in Negros Occidental to share the best practices in organic farming with their counterparts in more provinces in the Philippines.

Moraca added that the best practices in organic farming initiated in Negros Occidental are already being replicated in other places and there are now ongoing programs in Mindanao areas.

Before entering into the MOU, EAF and R.U. Foundry have supported 20 farmers organizations in Negros Occidental.*APN

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