AGGIE UPDATES

P1 B set for 1,000 RP flatbed dryers
LIAM ANACLETO

CABANATUAN CITY – President Arroyo has earmarked P1 billion for the installation of 1,000 flatbed dryers in the country in a move seen to avert the continued palay-drying scenario in highways which had cost farmers P30-billion in postharvest losses (PHLs) annually. Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap announced during the Farmer’s Day of the Butil Farmers’ Party at the National Food Authority regional office here Feb. 2 that the flatbed dryers are to be distributed in 37 key rice-production areas nationwide, including the provinces of Nueva Ecija and Isabela.
“This will improve production level to ensure zero losses and value adding,” citing the massive palay-drying in highways has resulted in huge post harvest losses for farmers. Palay-drying in highways in prohibited by law but many are still engaged in it, resulting in heavy traffic and road accidents. In Nueva Ecija, the practive goes on unabated with authorities failing to enforce the law against palay-drying.

Redentor Gatus, DA regional director for Central Luzon, said a total of 108 of the flatbed drying units will be distributed in President Arroyo’s home region, of which 69 will be in Nueva Ecija.
The regional DA had already given out P7 million worth of flatbed dryers in the region: three in Tarlac, two in each Pampanga, Bulacan and Nueva Ecija and two in Cabanatuan City.

Dr. Ricardo Cachuela, executive director of the Bureau of Post Harvest Research and Extension, said an initial 200 units of these dryers had been farmed out in various areas, serving 22,810 farmers in 36,471 hectares since January.

Cachuela hinted that due to lack of post-harvest facilities, at least P30 billion in potential income from palay is lost. He said local government units (LGUs) are supposed to implement the law against palay-drying in highways but could not do so.

Cachuela said that the batch-type dryer, which he described as the “most versatile” in Asia, has practically zero maintenance and can operate even without electricity, and does not require kerosene and blunker oil. “It can also accommodate corn and copra,” he said of the drying device which was developed many years ago at the University fo the Philippines in Los Banos (UPLB).