Future of PHL Agriculture: DA Mechanization Program Gives Rise to Innovative Technologies

Manila (PNA) — Low-cost and innovative machinery and technologies designed to make farming more efficient and productive are now available to Filipino farmers through the Department of Agriculture’s farm mechanization program.

Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said the partnership of the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech) with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has paved the way for the introduction to farmers of useful technologies that would increase efficiency, reduce postharvest losses and lowers cost of production in the long run

Alcala said that among these are the compact corn mill, coco water pasteurizer-chiller and harvesters and planters that could be simply attached to tractors.

The compact corn mill can process up to 250 kilos per hour while the coco water pasteurizer-chiller can aseptically extract and chill coco water.

“Sa Kabisayaan at Mindanao, sobrang ganda ng pagtanggap nila dito,” Alcala said of the farmers’ response to new corn postharvest technology, which costs around P300,000 based on PhilMech computations.

He said the DA’s National Corn Program has been distributing several units of this equipment to farmer groups in key production areas nationwide in support of their ongoing expansion.

As to the coco water pasteurizer-chiller, Alcala said the technology presents an opportunity for coconut farmers to earn more, as they can now profit from a by-product that is usually being thrown away.

The equipment has a price tag of more or less P500,000.

Meanwhile, Rex Bingabing, PhilMech’s executive director, said that a rice transplanter costs up to P200,000, while a combine rice harvester costs around P250,000 to P280,000.

Another available technology is the mechanical seeder which is worth around P70,000, he added.

PhilMech has also developed a 10-row onion planter that allows maximized spacing and direct seeding in farm lots.

Bingabing said that its use could result in better yield in terms of bulb size, lower mortality rate and early maturity compared to the transplant method.

To design and test these machineries, PhilMech collaborated with the Metals Industry Research and Development Center (MIRDC) under an ongoing memorandum of agreement on agricultural engineering, among other research and development (R&D) areas

Another attached agency of DOST, the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD), funded the initiative.

Alcala said that farmers can acquire these technologies in two ways – via direct purchase from PhilMech’s accredited fabricators or manufactures, or through a grant or counterpart agreement with the DA for qualified farmers’ organizations.

“We strongly encourage and assist farmers to mechanize their production processes – from planting to harvesting – to increase efficiency, reduce postharvest losses and lower cost of production,” Alcala said.

However, the Agriculture chief stressed that modern farm machineries are not meant to completely replace farm workers.

He said that as part of the farm mechanization program, the DA supports the formation of landless rural workers as farm service providers (FSPs) who are then trained to operate machineries for land preparation, harvesting threshing and drying.

“When ready, they are provided with their own equipment so they could enter into service agreements with landowners themselves,” he said.

Alcala said some of these organized FSPs have already been providing services to their communities, such as the Kaunlaran sa Balubaran Lingap at Katagumpayan in Laur, Nueva Ecija; farmers in Barangay Dikildit, Maria Aurora, Aurora; and Amucao Seed Growers Agro-Industrial Cooperative in Tarlac City.

Alcala has constantly maintained that labor cost is one of the biggest contributors to high cost of production, followed by the cost of money or the steep interests farmers incur for their loans and the excessive profits that traders add to the cost of farm inputs.

“Mechanization helps reduce the cost of labor, which is why the government is investing in the continuous development and provision of farm equipment and other postharvest technologies to boost the country’s farm mechanization level that is considered among the lowest in all of Asia,” he said.

“For this year alone, the DA has earmarked PHP 4.16 billion for agri-fishery machineries, equipment and support services under the 2014 national expenditure program,” Alcala said.

A 2012 study by PhilMech revealed that the country’s farm mechanization level was at 2.5 horsepower per hectare (hp/ha) for rice and 1.23 hp/ha for all crops.

Japan leads Asia in mechanization with 7hp/ha, followed by South Korea (4.11 hp/ha) and China (4.10 hp/ha).

Southeast Asian neighbors Thailand and Vietnam likewise enjoy higher mechanization rate across all crops at 2.7 hp/ha and 1.56 hp/ha, respectively.

“By 2016, the DA targets to raise the farm mechanization level in the Philippines to at least 4 hp/ha for rice and 2.3 hp/ha for all crops,” Alcala said. (PNA) SCS/CMR