Oriental Mindoro coop receives meat processing facility

Naujan, Oriental Mindoro – Members of the Sta. Maria Agrarian Reform Community Cooperative (SMARCC) recently received a newly renovated meat processing building from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to expand its operations and increase its local meat business opportunities.

The facility, with an estimated cost of Php867,000.00, includes the improvement of its existing building, enhancing its functionality and safety for meat processing.

DAR MIMAROPA Director Marvin Bernal said this facility would ensure high-quality products and would open more market opportunities to the cooperative.

“I challenge the officials and members of SMARCC to embrace this opportunity with commitment and I also ask our fellow DAR members and other implementing agencies to provide continued guidance and support to SMARCC in their future endeavors,” he said.

Established in 2004, SMARCC boasts a membership of 149, with 82 male and 67 female members. The cooperative has a diverse portfolio, engaging in businesses such as credit, agricultural input trading, farm machinery services, catering, rice marketing, swine production, and the latest meat processing.

Over the past 20 years, SMARCC's total assets have grown to approximately PhP 32 million. The cooperative, aside from the DAR, enjoys accreditation from several organizations, including the Sangguniang Bayan ng Naujan, Sangguniang Panlalawigan ng Silangang Mindoro, Department of Agriculture, National Food Authority, and the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation.

Jonathan Delgado, General Manager of SMARCC, expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the DAR, other agencies, and the Municipal Government of Naujan for their support.

“Our livelihood activities would greatly benefit from this facility and because the cooperative is offering high quality and reasonable prices for our products, other community members would also benefit as well,” he said.

Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer II Rogelio Madarcos said this project is implemented under the DAR’s Village Level Farm-Focused Enterprise Development (VLFED) 2024 program, which focuses on capacitating agrarian reform beneficiaries to improve their product development and enhance