The Department of Agriculture in the Caraga Region (DA-13) handed over on Thursday the PHP8.6 million Dairy Cattle and Milk Production Project to an indigenous people (IP) organization in the town of Sibagat, Agusan del Sur.

In a statement Friday, DA-13 identified the recipient as the Sibagat Manobo Dairy Producers Development Association in Barangay Padiay.

“The project is part of the commitment of the agency to help develop the tribal communities in the region through the Kabuhayan at Kaunlaran ng Kababayang Katutubo (4K) Program,” DA-13 Regional Executive Director Ricardo Oñate Jr. said.

“The government tried its best to make this project possible because this is what the IP community asked for, a livelihood project, as one of the ways to lessen their burdens,” Oñate added.

He also urged the organization to properly manage the project to make it sustainable.

The PHP8.6 project included 20 heads of dairy cattle, a hauling vehicle, a farm tractor, a forage storage facility, two milking machines, a milk cooling tank, 10 milk containers, a forage chopper, a generator set, and a water system facility.

The group’s president, Jimson Sumanda, thanked the government for the support they received through the DA’s 4K program. (PNA)