New
Lucena, a 6th class municipality, developed a comprehensive
cooperative development program in 1989 with the help of
the Municipal Cooperative Development Council, a local consultative
body on cooperatives. The program assisted the cooperatives
in availing of loans for start-up capital and other income
generating projects. The cooperatives were also provided
with access to support facilities and equipment such as
warehouses, rice mills, mechanical dryers, solar driers,
hand tractors, irrigation pumps and transport services.
Updated
technology on rice farming and the use of organic fertilizer
and integrated pest management were also disseminated. After
five years, 1 primary cooperative in each of the 21 barangay
was formed. Two municipal-based cooperatives were established
with a total capital build-up of about P1 million. Membership
of farmers and low-income laborers had increased by 154%.
With the timely provision of farming services, palay production
increased from 80 to 108 cavans per hectare per cropping
for two cropping per year. Consequently, incomes increased
from 25% to 30%. Because of the dynamic cooperative movement,
New Lucena was chosen as the site for a P30 million dairy
development project.
