The Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech) inaugurated on July 18 a P56.5-million rice mill designed to help 1,000 farmers increase their income by as much as 30 percent.
PhilMech director Dionisio Alvindia said the state-of-the-art multi-stage rice mill is part of the P71 million worth of postharvest facilities turned over to the Piddig Basi Multipurpose Cooperative for the benefit of its 1,100 members who manage 1,400 hectares of rice lands.
Included in the package are two recirculating dryers each with a capacity of 12 tons worth P8.1 million and other equipment worth P6.4 million.
Aside from agricultural machinery and postharvest facilities allocated for this year, the cooperative was previously awarded a rice combine harvester valued at P1.8 million.
Alvindia said the rice mill could process as much as three metric tons of palay per hour, producing 930 50-kilo bags of rice during an 8-hour run.
“This mill will increase the rice recovery from palay to 65 percent, higher by 7 percentage points compared to the national average of 58 percent. And that means a lot to increasing farmers’ incomes,” Alvindia said.
