Mindanao: The Department of Agriculture (DA) is aiming to construct more farm-to-market roads (FMR) across Mindanao to boost the agricultural industry in the region. The department on Thursday said it is ready to fully take over the program's implementation by 2026.

According to Philippines News Agency, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. stated that the new roads will focus on 'chronically underutilized' food production areas. A proposed PHP2-billion road in Sultan Kudarat could open 32,000 to 35,000 hectares of farmland, while parts of Liguasan Marsh have up to 300,000 hectares of recoverable land. Tiu Laurel emphasized that these areas remain unused due to the absence of roads.

The lack of access roads has kept these areas idle, and Tiu Laurel noted that improved farm corridors are vital for the Marcos administration's long-term food security goals. Besides the target FMRs, the DA aims to expand access to these corridors by incorporating post-harvest facilities to further reduce production costs and help increase farmers' profits.

Under the World Bank-funded Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP), local food producers will have access to cold storage units, dryers, silos, and links to ports and emerging agri-port facilities.