MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PHilMech) said it has distributed P100 million worth of total assistance to rice farmers in Bukidnon, Pangasinan, and Laguna.
PhilMech said this represents the assistance distributed by PHilMech to farmers under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF)-Mechanization Program for the first 12 days of November.
In Bukidnon, 50 farmers’ cooperatives and associations (FCAs) were awarded various rice equipment under the program during the two-day Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair (BPSF) at Bukidnon State University on Nov. 11 and 12.
A total of 94 farm machines/equipment were distributed to the 50 FCAs, including four-wheel drive tractors, combine harvesters, mobile dryers, and a rice processing system (RPS).
Among the FCAs that received assistance were the Lumintao Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Capinonan Irrigators Association Inc., Greenfields SN Multi-Purpose Cooperative and Mailag San Carlos Bagontaas Irrigators Association.
The Bukidnon leg of the BPSF gathered various national government agencies that extended assistance and services worth over P389 million to approximately 110,000 Bukidnon residents who registered for the two-day event.
Through the BPSF, PHilMech said it continues to provide farm machines/equipment to qualified FCAs under the RCEF-Mechanization Program.
In Alaminos, Pangasinan, a memorandum of agreement for the establishment of an RPS under the RCEF-Mechanization Program was signed between PHilMech and the Alaminos City Agriculture Cooperative (ACAC) during a groundbreaking ceremony for the facility held on Nov. 6 in the same city.
The P18-million facility includes two units of recirculating dryers with 6-ton drying capacity per batch and 1 unit of multi-pass rice mill with 1.5-ton milling capacity per hour.
To date, the City of Alaminos has already received P40 million worth of agricultural machinery under the RCEF-Mechanization Program.
Meanwhile, PHilMech awarded five FCAs with their own four-wheel drive tractors worth at least P11 million during the kick off for the two-day BPSF in Santa Cruz, Laguna on Nov. 4.
The FCAs were Sto. Domingo-Maitim Irrigators Association Inc.; Banca-Banca, San Francisco, San Felix, San Roque Irrigators Association Inc.; Pila Laguna Agricultural Cooperative; Bagong Samahan ng Magsasaka ng Pila, Laguna Inc.; and Tubuan-Tanza Irrigators Association Inc.