LEGAZPI CITY, March 18 -- Farmers belonging to the Awayan Libmanan Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Organization (Alarbo) Inc. of Libmanan, Camarines Sur will no longer need to rent equipment and employ manual labor during harvest after the Department of Agrarian Reform-5 (DAR-Bicol) turned over PHP1.5 million worth of farm machinery.

In an interview on Monday, DAR-Camarines Sur program officer Carlo Palaypayon said 84 Alarbo members received a 35-horsepower combine harvester with trailer worth PHP1.24 million and a compact rice mill with polisher worth PHP299,500 last week.

"The production cost will be reduced since before, they needed to rent this kind of machinery. Now they will have additional income since they can let the equipment be...