COA flags SRA over P10M worth of unused farm tractor accessories

Some P10 million worth of farm tractor accessories purchased by the government have remained unused since they are not compatible in the area where they are supposed to be used, the Commission on Audit (COA) said in a report.

In its annual audit report on the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), state auditors said the accessories — power harrows and fertilizer applicators — remain idle because they are not suitable in the supposed area of beneficiaries in Bukidnon, Batangas, and Cotabato City.

The provision of such accessories for farm tractors is part of the aid to farmer-beneficiaries under the Block Farm Program of the Sugar Industry Development Act (SIDA), COA said. 

The Block Farm Program is the consolidation of small farms — including farms of agrarian reform beneficiaries — as one larger farm, with a  minimum area of 30 hectares within a two-kilometer radius, to take advantage of the economies of scale in the production of sugarcane.

Under the program, the activities in the small farms should be aligned and implemented to ensure the efficient use of farm machineries and equipment, deployment of workers, volume purchase of inputs, financing, and other operational advantages, as well as recognition by sugar mills, government financial institutions, and private investors.

The ownership of each small farm, however, remains with the landowners.

Aside from the non-compatible farm tractor accessories, COA said other deficiencies of the Block Farm Program include:

• one of the five hauling trucks amounting to P3.8 million distributed to Calunasan Sugarcane Planters Association, Calunasan, Mlang, North Cotabato was still registered under the name of the supplier, hence ownership of the beneficiary-association is not ensured;
• no trainings were conducted by the SRA or the suppliers;
• two irrigation facilities remained idle due to the lack of water source where the Block Farm associations are located in SRA Visayas;
• some of Block Farm associations were hesitant to spend additional expenses for the use of water pumps in SRA Visayas;
• farm implements were leased out by the Block Farm associations instead of them using the agricultural equipment at their own sugarcane farms due to incompatibility to the soil type of the specifications of these pieces of equipment in SRA Visayas; and
• one of the farm implements was unused or idle due to the mulboard, which was deformed or bent and needs alignment, resulting in the Block Farm association not have the financial capacity to shoulder the repairs in SRA Visayas

“The foregoing deficiencies somewhat negatively impacted the attainment  of the objective of the Block Farm Program to boost the production of  sugarcane and sugar and increase the incomes of the sugarcane farmers/planters and farm workers,” COA said.

COA said that such deficiencies are considered unconscionable expenditures of government funds.

Given the findings, COA made the following recommendations:

• cause the immediate transfer of ownership of the hauling truck costing P3.8 million million from the supplier to the SRA/beneficiary association concerned to establish ownership thereof;
• consider the transfer of the unused/idle farm implements to other qualified beneficiaries by conducting proper assessment prior to the transfer to the new beneficiaries to ensure that these are suitable to the area/soil type to avoid deterioration due to wear and tear;
• conduct trainings or require the suppliers concerned to train the beneficiaries on the proper use of the procured farm implements, machineries and equipment;
• find ways to put in use the idle irrigation facilities, otherwise, investigate the persons involved in the construction thereof and hold them responsible/liable, if warranted;
• transfer the incompatible equipment and machineries in the Visayas to other locations where these could be utilized; and
• consider providing financial assistance to the Block Farm association concerned for the repair of the farm implement so it can be utilized

In response to the COA findings, the SRA said that the registration of hauling trucks is already being facilitated.

Regarding the unused farm implements, SRA said the Extension Services Division (ESD) had coordinated with the SRA-Agricultural and Biosystem Engineering (ABE) Division during the first quarter of 2023 to conduct inventory and assessment of the unused farm machineries to address the concerns of the beneficiaries.

SRA also said the Mill District Officer (MDO) from Batangas also reported that the power harrows could still be used, provided proper training should be undertaken by the user.

As for the lack of training, SRA argued that the training on the use of the procured machineries and equipment did not materialize since majority of the tractors were delivered during the COVID-19 pandemic when there was limited mobility and restriction in some entry points

In addition, SRA said that its ESD already conducted demonstration, orientation and training on the proper operation and  maintenance of the farm machineries.

The trainings were conducted from December 2022 until March 2023 in Batangas, Pampanga, Tarlac, Cagayan, Isabela, Camarines Sur, Bukidnon and Davao. —KBK, GMA Integrated News