The Department of Agriculture (DA) distributed P135.8 million worth of post-harvest facilities and financial assistance to farmers in two towns in Nueva Ecija on Thursday.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. led separate activities in Jaen and Guimba towns to distribute rice mills and dryers benefiting farmers’ cooperatives with a total membership of 344.
The DA said the post-harvest machines were from the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech) which gets the bulk of the P10 billion annual allocation from the Rice Competitiveness and Enhancement Fund (RCEF) Mechanization Program funded by duties on rice under the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL).
In Jaen, the Pakul Primary Multipurpose Cooperative was provided with a rice processing system that includes a modern, multi-stage rice mill with a capacity of up to 3 tons an hour.
The machine has a pre-cleaner, de-stoner, huller, mist polisher, length grader, color sorter, blending tank, automatic packing, rice hull bin, dust collection system and air-conditioned control room worth a total P53.6 million.
The cooperative will also get recirculating dryers with 6- and 12-ton drying capacity per batch made of stainless steel and equipped with two heating systems, a generator set, tools and other accessories valued a total P7.06 million.
The DA said the Pakul Cooperative is focused on rice cultivation and has 172 farmer members who directly benefit from the project in Jaen.
The DA Regional Field Office in Central Luzon also turned over RCEF production technologies and provided interventions worth P13 million on top of a separate assistance of P1.9 million from the High Value Crops Development Program.
In Guimba, the DA turned over to the Cooperative Enterprise for True Economic Reform a similar rice processing system worth P48.58 million and three 12-ton recirculating dryers worth P11.71 million.
The cooperative has 172 members collectively managing 238 hectares of rice fields.
According to the DA, the cooperatives own palay dryers that have since been dilapidated due to age.
“The government is giving back to farmers what is due them and with the help of our legislators we could provide rice producers more assistance to enhance their competitiveness through the extension of the Rice Tariffication Law,” said Tiu Laurel, in a statement.
Data show the Philippines producing 20.06 million metric tons (MT) of palay in 2023, 9.2 percent or 1.8 million MT of which were from Nueva Ecija.
