PhilMech to distribute more farm machinery

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech) will distribute more farm machinery this year to support the government’s effort to achieve rice self-sufficiency.

This year, PhilMech will distribute  278 mechanical driers; 652 hand tractors; 99 four-wheel tractors; 483 palay threshers; 9 rice mills (all types); 418 rice drum seeders; rice reapers; 322 rice cutters/harvesters; and 76 rice combine harvesters.

In 2012, PhilMech distributed 193 mechanical driers; 637 hand tractors; 58 four-wheel tractors; 423 palay threshers; 36 rice mills (all types); 23 rice drum seeders; 97 rice reapers; 156 rice cutters/harvesters; and 80 rice combine harvesters.

PhilMech will also distribute this year: 22 medium multi-crop combine harvesters; 42 mini rice combine harvesters; 75 pedal-powered rice threshers; 215 power tillers with floating trailers; and 750 fertilizer spreaders.

“PhilMech has been solidly behind the Aquino administration in making the Philippines self-sufficient in rice by programming and coordinating the distribution of farm machineries under the Department of Agriculture’s Rice Mechanization Program,” said PhilMech executive director Rex Bingabing.

The subsidy for the farm machinery would be covered by the P2.45-billion 2013 budget by the Department of Agriculture (DA) for farm mechanization.

The Agriculture department last year launched its mechanization program for rice farming as part of its efforts to make the country self-sufficient in rice supply by 2013.

Under the program, the government would shoulder 85 percent of the cost of farm machinery distributed to qualified farmer organizations while the remaining 15 percent  is shouldered by farm groups.

The rapidly aging agricultural workforce is pushing the government to increase farm mechanization to be at par with neighboring countries in the ASEAN region.

Bingabing places the current level of farm mechanization in the country at an average of one horsepower per hectare (hp/ha). Mechanization in rice cultivation areas is higher at 1.60 horsepower per hectare. 

This is an improvement from an average farm mechanization level of 0.52 hp/ha in the ‘90s.

PhilMech study showed that with continued investment in farm mechanization by the government and the private sector, the local farm mechanization level can rise to two hp/ha by this year.

Bingabing said with the current improvement in farm mechanization level in the Philippines, the country can catch up with neighboring Southeast Asian countries by 2016.

The Philippines still lags behind other countries in Southeast Asia in terms of farm mechanization. Among the leaders in Asia are Japan with a mechanization level of seven hp/ha, South Korea at 4.11 hp/ha, China with 4.10 hp/ha, and Vietnam with 1.56 hp/ha.

The country’s farm mechanization level is now currently at par with those of Pakistan and India with mechanization levels of 1.02 ph/ha.

Increased farm mechanization, or the use of machinery to ease drudgery and time spent on crop cultivation and maintenance, can significantly shorten land preparation time from one month to only two weeks and harvest time from a regular coverage of one hectare per day to four hectares per day.

Bingabing said PhilMech is now working on increasing the farm mechanization level in cultivation areas dedicated to corn, vegetables, coconut, cocoa and coffee.