To reduce economic losses from rice production and postproduction operations in the country, PCAARRD allotted P65 million for the implementation of the Rice Mechanization Program. The program will run for two and a half years.
The program, which seeks to enhance efficiency of rice crop establishment, harvesting, drying, milling, and processing operations by developing and pilot-testing locally designed machines and systems, has 10 component projects.
To officially implement the program, a memorandum of agreement (MOA) was recently signed by PCAARRD and the implementing agencies, consisting of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech), Metals Industry Research and Development Center (MIRDC), University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), and the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI).
PhilRice will develop a locally adapted and manufactured riding-type precision rice seeder; a local riding-type rice transplanter; and a combined conduction and far-infrared radiation paddy dryer. It will also implement the project on the improvement and pilot-testing of the 1.3-meter PhilRice mini combine harvester.
MIRDC and PhilMech will collaborate on the design and development of harvester and transplanter attachments to hand tractor; and the retrofitting of a compact rice mill for brown rice production.
On the other hand, MIRDC and FNRI will develop and test a fluidized bed dryer and a superheated steam treatment system for the production of a stabilized brown rice.
Finally, UPLB will develop quality standards for manufacturing the rice production and post-production machineries and standard methods of testing the machines prior to commercialization.
The program is expected to contribute to the reduction of rice harvesting and threshing losses, from 4.2% to 1.8% in 2020. It will also help lower the losses from drying rice, from 5.8% to 3.8% in 2015. The machines once developed and pilot-tested are also expected to lower production costs and improve rice quality.
Incidentally, the program is part of PCAARRD’s Strategic S&T Plan for rice.