THE Department of Agriculture (DA), through the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development Mechanization (Philmec), will intensify its rice mechanization program.
Rodolfo P. Estigoy, DA-Philmec chief of the applied communication division, said farmers must be empowered through various means of technology in addressing concerns on rice production.
“May programa ang DA ngayon on rice mechanization. Ang aim niya ay mag-increase ang yield ng five percent dahil sa study namin mas natutulungan natin ang mga magsasaka sa pagtatanim nila gamit ang machineries (DA has a program on rice mechanization. The aim is to increase the yield by five percent because based on our study we are even more helping our farmers in planting through the use of machineries),” Estigoy said in an interview on Friday, September 21, 2018.
Estigoy said in this way, the increase of rice production will also lessen the cost production of most farmers in planting rice and will also aid in minimizing manual labor.
“Kase sa nakasanayangang farm labor practice, kunwari nakaharvest ka ng 100 bags, at least seven percent nun, o katumbas na halos seven bags ibibigay mo sa mga other farmers na gumiik ng palay, so mababawasan na rice production mo (In the usual farm labor practice, for example you harvested 100 bags, at least seven percent of that or seven bags would be allocated for other farmers who threshed your rice grains, so your rice produce decreases),” Estigoy said.
He said with Philmec’s researches, they found out the vital role of technology in contributing to the increase of rice produce. Through Philmec’s rice mechanization program, Estigoy and his division will educate farmers in order to entice them in venturing the use of technology in harvesting.
“Kung ang farmers ay nag grupo into a farmer’s organization, or even farmer’s cooperative na registered under DA ay makakatanggap sila sa programa ng gobyerno ng libre (If the farmers form an organization or cooperative, which is registered under DA, then they can receive the government’s program for free),” Estigoy said.
Estigoy added this program will help the Philippines be more rice competitive with other Asean countries.
Philmec’s studies show the cost of rice production per kilograms (kg) in the Philippines would amount to P12/kg. This is relatively expensive compared to Vietnam’s P6/kg of rice production and Thailand’s production amounting to P8/kg.
“We are hoping that through the intensive rice mechanization we can reduce the rice production to P9/kg,” Estigoy added.