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Saturday, October 29, 2011

Flatbed driers lessen farmer woes after typhoon

The flatbed driers (FBDs) distributed by the Department of Agriculture-Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (DA-PhilMech) helped a big number of farmers hit by the two recent typhoons to recover some of their palay (unmilled rice) harvests, which underscored the importance of deploying more of the drying facilities in various parts of the country.

“While the percentage of palay that was recovered by the FBDs may not be that big compared to the total losses incurred by rice farmers from the two typhoons, the FBDs have demonstrated that palay submerged in water can still be dried and recovered. Fortunately, 93.56% or 2,048 of the 2,189 FBDs distributed from 2007 to 2010 are functional but the mindset of more farmers have to be changed so they can realize the benefits of using the flatbed driers,” said DA-PhilMech Executive Director Ricardo L. Cachuela.

Based on latest field reports, the number of bags of palay dried by FBDs in areas hit by the two typhoons reached 206,917: Cordillera Administrative Region 5,029 bags; Region 1 (Ilocos Region) 40,358 bags; Region 3 (Central Luzon) 34,907 bags; Region 4A (Calabarzon) 2,407 bags; Region 4B (Mimaropa) 26,604 bags; Region 5 (Bicol Region) 68,619 bags; Region 6 (Western Visayas) 23,743 bags; Region 8 (Eastern Visayas) 4,750 bags; and Region 13 (Caraga) 500 bags.

“The number of bags dried would have easily doubled or tripled but we received reports that many FBDs were overwhelmed by the number of farmers and farmer organizations wanting to have their wet palay dried. There were many cases where the FBDs were “booked” up to 30 days, so many FBDs could not service more farmers who want their wet palay dried,” Cachuela said.

“For example, in Region 1, the 103 functioning FBDs dried a total of 40,358 bags in just a few weeks,” he added.

With the proven worth of the FBDs, DA-PhilMech has set the distribution 3,253 FBDs nationwide from 2011 to 2016: 166 units in 2011; 958 in 2012; 1,054 in 2013; 348 in 2014; 358 in 2015; and 369 in 2016.

FBDs use rice hull to generate heat for drying purposes, and can dry wet palay to 14 percent moisture content in 10 to 12 hours. During the wet season, farmers who use FBDs are able to sell their palay from P10 and above.

So far, 2,049 of the 2,189 FBDs distributed from 2007 to 2010, or 93.56%, are functioning. DA-PhilMech credited the high percentage of functioning FBDs nationwide to the efforts of farmers’ organizations in maintaining the facilities.

Based on latest field data, the Cordillera Autonomous Region is has 33 functioning FBDs out of the 35 installed or 94.30%; Region 1 (Ilocos Region) 103 out of 108 or 95.37%; Region 2 (Cagayan Valley) 139 out of 188 or 74.00%; Region 3 (Central Luzon) 302 out of 313 or 96.48%; Region 4A (Calabarzon) 66 out of 66 or 100%; Region 4B (Mimaropa) 91 out of 98 or 93.00%; Region 5 (Bicol Region) 223 out of 227 or 98.23%; Region 6 (Western Visayas) 182 out of 188 or 96.80%; Region 7 (Central Visayas) 32 out of 35 or 91.43%; Region 8 (Eastern Visayas) 194 out of 215 or 90.23%; Region 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula) 211 out of 228 or 92.54%; Region 10 (Northern Mindanao) 90 out of 96 or 93.75%; Region 11 (Davao Region ) 93 out of 93 or 100%; Region 12 (SOCCSKARGEN) 171 out of 179 or 95.53%; Region 13 (Caraga) 74 out 0f 76 or 97.37%; and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) 44 out of 44 or 100%.

“The high percentage of functioning FBDs clearly demonstrates that farmers’ organizations are capable of operating and maintaining the drying facilities if they are equipped with the skills and knowledge on FBDs,” Cachuela said. Engr. Aldrin E. Badua, Head, Agri-Infra Coordinating Unit, PhilMech

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