THE use of solar dryer for agricultural products is still widely used in the region, a government official said.
“Marami pa ring gumagamit ng mga solar dryers sa mga probinsya na nakikita naman natin minsan pa nga sa mga kalsada, o di naman kayay yung mga solar dryers na ginagawang basketball court pag walang ani makikita pa rin natin sa iba’t ibang mga barangay (A lot still use solar dryers in the provinces as we see it sometimes even on the streets. Others ar at make-shift basketball courts. We still see these in different barangays),” Philippine Statistics Authority Davao (PSA 11) supervising statistical specialist Leah C. Magracia said during the closing ceremony of the National Statistical Month.
Based on PSA’s Baranggay Agricultural Profiling Survey (BAPS), 647 barangays in Davao Region are into organic farming.
A total of 592 barangays practice integrated pest management, 461 barangays practice water management, 426 barangays practice integrated nutrient management, 325 barangays practice hybrid corn cultivation and commercialization, 176 barangays practice hybrid rice cultivation and commercialization.
Only 95 barangays practice cultivation of genetically modified crops and 74 barangays practice hydroponics in their agricultural lands.
Meanwhile, some of the top equipment being used by farmers include the Knapsacker sprayer tplow, cart, harrow, and power sprayer. Rounding up the top ten most used equipment by farmers are rice-floating tiller, hauling track, rice thresher, rice power tiller (rotavator), and hand tractor.