DA bureau develops pneumatic corn planter

DAGUPAN City – A mechnical corn planter developed by a Department of Agriculture (DA) bureau is ready for commercialization.

Called pneumatic corn planter, the farm machine was crafted by the Bureau of Postharvest Research and Extension (BPRE) based in Muñoz, Nueva Ecija.

It was launched during the 4th Philippine National Corn Congress (NCC) held last May 5-6 at the Leisure Coast Resort in this Pangasinan city.

Before its launch, its capabilities and applicabilities were demonstrated on the farm of Rosalio Ellasus, president of the San Jacinto (Pangasinan) Kasakalikasan Multipurpose Cooperative and newly elected president of the Philippine Maize (PhilMaize), which co-sponsored the congress with the DA Guinintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) Corn Program.

The technology is part of the GMA-Corn Program on corn mechanization which aims to localize imported corn machinery and adapt them to local conditions.

During the congress, BPRE director Ricardo Cachuela reported on the features of the pneumatic (air pressure) corn planter, which was designed and developed by the bureau’s agricultural engineers led by Ofero Caparino, chief science research specialist.

The machine, which can be mounted on the rear of any two-wheel tractor (22-35 horsepower), is equipped with a planting assembly, fertilizer applicator assembly, and furrower.

It also uses pneumatic metering system which makes it capable of planting corn seeds of any size.

Cachuela said the planting assembly has adjustments for row spacing, hill spacing, seed depth, and soil cover mechanism. Hill spacing can be set from 15 to 30 centimeters; row spacing, 65-76 cm; and seed depth, 5-10 cm.

"The fertilizer applicator is made of stainless steel materials for protection against corrosion," he said. "The fertilizer application rate could be set from three to nine bags per hectare."

The corn planter also has a furrower attachment to maximize the utilization of water during the first irrigation after planting.

Made of locally available materials, the machine costs about P250,00, excluding the tractor.

"This is cheaper than the imported pneumatic corn planters with similar capacity available in the market today," BPRE said. – Rudy A. Fernandez