TABUK CITY, Kalinga—The geotagging of farm lands in this city has started so the Office for the City Agricultural Services (OCAS) can deliver effective and much needed agricultural support services to farmers.
The OCAS started geotagging in Cabaruan, the first of the city’s 42 barangays.
The purpose of geotagging of lands dedicated to planting rice, corn and other agricultural products is to come up with an accurate data of the total agricultural areas in each of the barangays of the city, said Agricultural Technician Emmanuel Pagtud
He said: “Through this geotagging, the OCAS will be able to validate if the land area declared by the farmer-Beneficiaries in the Registry System for Basic Sectors In Agriculture (RSBSA) form is correct.”
Pagtud said the OCAS is aiming to geotag all farm lands in all the 42 barangays of the city within this year.
He said: “This is necessary to come up with an exact data regarding farm area and the volume of production that these farm areas could possibly bring about.”
Pagtud said that Global Positioning System (GPS) device is being used to be able come out with accurate data.
Prior the actual geotagging, OCAS staff interviewed Cabaruan farmers using the Farmers Profile Form (FPF) to determine the following information such as farm location, farm lot number, name of owner, name of actual tiller, RSBSA Reference Number and number of parcels of land.
It also sought to know the size each farmer has dedicated for rice, corn, vegetable, orchard and fruit tress production, as well as fishpond.
There are at least 420 farmers with a total area of 420 hectares in Barangay Cabaruan.
After the OCAS finished the geotagging, the data will be shared to the City Planning and Development Office (CPDO) as one of the basis for accurate planning and the Department of Agriculture (DA) for future services and intervention, said Pagtud.
City Mayor Darwin Estrañero is fully supportive of all OCAS programs aimed for an increased agricultural productivity and profitability in the City.
He sees the need for OCAS and its head Julibert Aquino to finish the geotagging for them to know their constituents better so they can deliver effective and much needed agricultural support services to them.
