The Department of Agriculture (DA) has opened a new P74.4-million rice processing facility in Cabanatuan to improve postharvest processing in Nueva Ecija, the country’s top rice-producing province.
The facility, inaugurated on Thursday, includes a multi-stage rice mill that can process 4 to 5 tons per hour, along with three recirculating dryers, each capable of handling up to 12 tons per batch.
In addition, the equipment will help the facility speed up drying and milling, reduce postharvest losses, improve rice quality, and increase farmers’ net income. It could also reduce farmers’ reliance on selling their palay immediately after harvest.
According to the agriculture department, the project is expected to benefit about 4,060 farmers in Cabanatuan, covering nearly 9,000 hectares of rice land in the city alone. Cabanatuan is part of Nueva Ecija, considered the rice granary of the Philippines.
In the second quarter, Nueva Ecija produced 752,751 metric tons (MT) of palay, down 2.76 percent from the same period last year.
‘The true progress of agriculture measures comfort and prosperity for every farming family at their table, not just the volume of rice harvested.’ Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu-Laurel said in a statement on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the facility distributes production and postharvest machinery to eligible beneficiaries nationwide, funded by the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) Mechanization Program.
The Rice Tariffication Law established the RCEF. Amendments to the law extended its duration through 2031 and raised the annual allocation for its mechanization component from P5 billion to P9 billion.
The Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PHilMech) carries out the program.
Since 2019, PHilMech has found that mechanization cut labor costs by about P2 per kilogram of palay, increasing farmers’ income by around P9,000 per hectare.
In the Philippines, farmers expect palay production to drop by 15 percent in the third quarter, reaching 3.19 million MT. This decline results from a smaller harvest area, as many provinces continue to suffer from the impacts of successive typhoons, including ‘Luis,’ ‘Maymay,’ ‘Neneng,’ and ‘Pilandok,’ which have worsened the effects of the southwest monsoon.