MANILA — The Department of Agriculture has broken ground on a P310.9-million farm-to-market road in Kayapa, Nueva Vizcaya, opening the way for improved access to farms producing high-value vegetables and coffee.
The 10.86-kilometer Pangawan-Banao Farm-to-Market Road was launched on Sept. 24 under the World Bank-backed DA Philippine Rural Development Project Scale-Up. The project is designed to connect remote agricultural communities with markets and commercial centers.
The project is financed through a P248.7-million World Bank loan, with P31.1 million each coming from the national government and the local government unit. The contract was awarded to Omengan Construction and Development Corp.
The road will serve an estimated 4,191-hectare agricultural influence area where farmers produce high-value crops, particularly vegetables and coffee. The project is expected to benefit 1,078 residents in Barangays Pangawan and Banao, including 251 Indigenous Peoples households and 192 farming families.
Beyond providing a paved connection between communities, the project has specific targets for improving agricultural logistics. Authorities expect travel time and transport losses to fall by 50%, agricultural hauling costs to decline by 25% and input transportation expenses to drop by 17%.
The road is also expected to support growth in agricultural activity. Project targets call for annual traffic volume to increase by 2%, while tomato production areas are projected to expand by 2% a year and coffee cultivation areas by 1%.
For farmers in mountainous areas, road access can directly affect the cost and speed of moving produce. Better connections can reduce the time agricultural products spend traveling from farms to trading areas while improving access to farm inputs, services and other economic opportunities.
The investment comes as the government continues using farm-to-market roads as part of its rural development and agricultural infrastructure programs. Similar projects are intended to connect production areas that have historically faced transportation difficulties, particularly during periods of heavy rain.
The cost of the Nueva Vizcaya project has also drawn attention because it works out to roughly P28.6 million per kilometer. That is higher than the P15-million average previously cited by the Agriculture Department for a two-lane concrete farm-to-market road, although project costs can vary depending on terrain, engineering requirements and construction scope.
The road is being developed amid increased scrutiny of government spending on farm-to-market infrastructure. The project therefore combines an agricultural connectivity objective with the need for careful implementation and monitoring as construction progresses.
For Nueva Vizcaya’s farming communities, the planned road could provide a more reliable route for moving vegetables and coffee to markets while reducing some of the logistical costs associated with operating in remote areas.
The bigger test now is whether the new road can deliver the projected reductions in travel time and transport costs while helping the province expand its high-value agricultural production once the project is completed.
