The Department of Agriculture, through the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech), is holding a two-day roadshow starting Wednesday, showcasing various farm technologies for the entire rice value chain from land preparation to postharvest, to strengthen mechanization as one of the keys to food sufficiency and food security.

PhilMech Director IV Dionisio G. Alvindia said through the Innovate Visayas Roadshow 2024 at the Western Visayas Integrated Agricultural Research Center in Jaro District, they would showcase new technologies that could help farmers increase their production and income.

“This is in support of the program of the government, particularly on the thrust of President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos (Jr.), to strengthen mechanization because this is one of the keys to food sufficiency, food security, and food affordability,” Alvindia said in a media interview.

He said they want to raise the farmers’ awareness of mechanization as they are usually only familiar with tractors, particularly rotavators, for soil preparation.

He said it is important that the right machinery is used for every stage of production for a good harvest.

The roadshow showcases Korean machinery offering advanced technology that would increase productivity.

“This is some sort of awareness and education to our farmers that we have all these technologies that can be used to increase productivity,” Alvindia said.

Among the highlights of the roadshow were a field demonstration of a tractor, front loader, levee maker, rotating disc plow, boom sprayer, and rice precision seeder and the distribution of four units of four-wheel tractors worth PHP9.19 million to four farmers cooperatives and associations (FCAs) from Iloilo, purchased under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) Mechanization Program.

PhilMech Director for Operations Joel V. Dator said under the RCEF Mechanization Program, they provided free branded arm machinery and equipment to FCAs in 57 rice-growing provinces in the country since it began in 2019 and will end this year.

In Western Visayas, PhilMech provided PHP2.77 billion worth of 5,770 technologies to 1,364 FCAs.

Annually, the national allocation is PHP5 billion, Alvindia said, noting that of the total PHP30 billion in six years, they have mechanized only 14 percent of the total rice industry in the country.

Nonetheless, he said, during the five-year implementation of farm mechanization, the national average rice production increased to nearly 4.3 tons per hectare from 3.6 tons. (PNA)